Plasmodium falciparum Binding Interactions in the Bone Marrow

关键词：疟疾，疟疾，骨髓摘要：疟疾是由疟原虫属原生动物寄生虫引起的一种致命的热带疾病。在最新的《世界疟疾报告》中，全球疟疾病例总数估计为2.19亿例，其中大多数病例是由恶性疟原虫引起的。恶性疟原虫的一个重要毒力因子是在受感染的红细胞表面表达变异抗原的能力，使寄生虫能够隔离在深层组织中，从而避免脾清除。最近，骨髓被确认为疟疾寄生虫的主要储存库，无论是在其生命周期的无性阶段还是有性阶段。重要的是，这一利基似乎对传播阶段的发展至关重要，因此可能对未来的传播阻断战略产生重要影响。目前尚不清楚恶性疟原虫是否可以通过类似于前面描述的受体-配体相互作用在骨髓中隔离，或者这些相互作用是否是骨髓特有的。因此，该项目将研究恶性疟原虫在骨髓中表达的配体，以及它们与哪些骨髓细胞受体结合，以便隔离在骨髓利基中。

Keywords: Plasmodium, malaria, bone marrowAbstract: Malaria is a fatal tropical disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. In the most recent World Malaria Report, the total number of malaria cases worldwide was estimated to be 219 million, with the majority of these cases caused by Plasmodium falciparum. An important virulence factor of P. falciparum is the ability to express variant antigens on the surface of the infected erythrocyte allowing parasites to sequester in deep tissues thereby avoiding splenic clearance. The bone marrow has recently been identified as a major reservoir of malaria parasites, both in the asexual and sexual stages of their life cycle. Importantly, this niche appears to be crucial for the development of transmission stages and could therefore have important implications in terms of future transmission blocking strategies. It is currently unknown whether P. falciparum can sequester in the bone marrow through similar receptor-ligand interactions as previously described or whether these interactions are bone marrow specific. This project will therefore investigate the ligands expressed by asexual P. falciparum in the bone marrow, and which bone marrow cell receptors they bind to, in order to sequester in the bone marrow niche.