Plasmodium falciparum mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases, a family of enzymes central to signal transduction processes including inflammatory responses, are a promising target for antimalarial drug development. Our study shows for the first time that the P. falciparum specific MAP kinase 2 (PfMAP2) is colocalized in the nucleus of all of the asexual erythrocytic stages of P. falciparum and...

Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) is an important virulence factor encoded by a family of 59 var genes, including 56 var genes plus 3 small var3 genes. The var genes are among the most diverse sequences in the P. falciparum genome, but the var3 genes are found conserved in most P. falciparum strains. Previous studies have been mainly focused on the typical var genes,...

Gregarine apicomplexans are unicellular parasites commonly found in the intestines and coeloms of invertebrate hosts. Traits associated with the conspicuous feeding stage of gregarines, known as the trophozoite, have been used in combination with molecular phylogenetic data for species delimitation and the reconstruction of evolutionary history. Trophozoite morphology alone is often inadequate ...

In Cambodia, the same region where chloroquine resistance developed in the 1950s, a significant delay in thePlasmodium falciparum parasite clearance rates to artemisinins has been persistently observed over the past 5 y, raising the specter of artemisinin “resistance” (1). The parasites in this region have imprints of genetic selection associated with the delay in parasite clearance rates measu...

In an attempt to correlate host and parasite-related events occurring during the course of a primary Giardia infection in the mouse we have measured epithelial cell kinetics, enzymes, and intraepithelial lymphocytes at different stages of the infection. New methods were developed for the accurate measurement of parasite numbers and distribution within the gut. In jejunum a modest decrease in vi...

Among the several new antimalarials discovered over the past decade are at least three clinical candidate drugs, each with a distinct chemical structure, that disrupt Na+ homeostasis resulting in a rapid increase in intracellular Na+ concentration ([Na+]i) within the erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum. At present, events triggered by Na+ influx that result in parasite demise are not w...

Red blood cells infected withPlasmodium falciparum(IRBCs) undergo changes primarily in their membrane composition that contribute to malaria pathogenesis. However, all manifestations (eg, anemia) cannot be accounted for by IRBCs alone. Uninfected erythrocytes (URBCs) may play a role, but they have been under-researched. We wanted to document changes in the erythrocyte membrane that could contri...

To study the interactions between the parasitic protozoan Giardia lamblia and its environment, we have cloned the gene that encodes the two major surface-labeled trophozoite protein species. Sequence analysis of this gene reveals a single open reading frame specifying a hydrophilic, cysteine-rich (11.8%) protein of 72.5-kDa molecular mass with an amino-terminal signal peptide and a postulated h...

Entamoeba histolytica, a pathogenic parasite, is the causative organism of amoebiasis and uses human colon to complete its life cycle. It destroys intestinal tissue leading invasive disease. Since it does not form cyst in culture medium, reptilian parasite invadens serves as model system study encystation. Detailed investigation on mechanism formation, information ultra-structural changes wall ...