Sugar identified as key to malaria parasite invasion

Invasion of the midgut cell layer is an essential stage in the parasite’s lifecycle and in the transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans. By reducing the level of the sugar, chondroitin sulfate, in the mosquito, the researchers prevented 95 percent of the parasites in the mosquito from attaching to the gut, thus blocking its development. The study is published in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“This study provides significant new insights on how the parasite develops in the mosquito, complementing our earlier identification of another parasite midgut receptor that is a target for a transmission-blocking vaccine,” said Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena, PhD, senior author of the study and a professor in the Bloomberg School’s W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. “This line of research could lead to new approaches for interfering with the spread of this deadly disease.”

To determine whether the parasite utilizes chondroitin glycosaminoglycans to invade the mosquito midgut cells, the researchers used a process known as RNA interference to inhibit production of a mosquito enzyme that is needed to produce chondroitin sulfate. With the sugar removed, parasite adhesion and midgut invasion were substantially decreased.

“Our study highlights the importance of sugars in parasite invasion of the mosquito gut. Previously, this phenomenon was only observed during parasite invasion of human tissues,” said Rhoel R. Dinglasan, PhD, MPH, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow with the Malaria Research Institute. “It appears as if the parasite’s use of sugars as a strategy for cell invasion of tissues is similar in both man and mosquito. This may be an Achilles’ heel for the parasite, opening up the possibility of developing a vaccine that works against all stages of the parasite’s lifecycle.”

According to the researchers, many important questions must still be answered to determine if the glycosaminolgycan identified could be a potential antigen for a transmission-blocking vaccine. In a study published earlier this year in the PNAS, the JHMRI team identified a previously unknown mosquito antigen that the parasite uses for entry into the mosquito midgut, a critical step in the Plasmodium parasite’s development. The researchers produced an antibody that acts as a blanket to prevent the parasite from accessing the mosquito midgut antigen.

Their research showed that the antibodies were effective against multiple malaria parasites and could potentially provide the basis for a future ‘universal’ malaria transmission-blocking vaccine.

Media Contact

Tim Parsons EurekAlert!

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors