Publication Date:
2012-06-27
Description:
Malaria is an ancient scourge that continues to plague many regions of the developing world. Despite its long history, many aspects of the disease remain difficult to explain. For example, why some individuals experience relatively mild symptoms and others progress to severe and sometimes lethal disease is not understood. Similarly, the molecular basis for immunity to severe malaria is poorly defined. Three studies in PNAS (1–3) cast significant light on this subject.Malaria parasites reside within circulating erythrocytes, where they modify the host cell cytoskeleton and membrane, placing a protein called Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) on the cell...
Print ISSN:
0027-8424
Electronic ISSN:
1091-6490
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
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