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SUMMARY:Invasion of red blood cells by malaria - Dr Guilherme Nettesheim (
 Cavendish Laboratory\, University of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20200308T122000Z
DTEND:20200308T130000Z
UID:TALK140857@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Trinity College Science Society
DESCRIPTION:"Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases\, affec
 ts 300 million people each year\, causes nearly 1 million deaths\, primari
 ly children. Its elimination is hampered by the lack of an effective vacci
 ne\, and the recurrent evolution of parasites resistant to frontline drugs
 . In the blood stage of malaria\, one parasite (P. falciparum merozoite) i
 nvades a red blood cell (RBC)\, then grows by repeated clonal divisions ov
 er about 48 hours\, subverting the normal metabolism of the RBC: digesting
  haemoglobin\, the merozoites release toxic heme groups. The parasites cry
 stallise the heme into hemozoin. The metabolism of haemoglobin\, and the f
 ormation of hemozoin crystals\, are specific to this family of parasites a
 nd essential to their survival\, hence these have been the targets for mos
 t malaria drugs up to now\; current research is turning the focus also on 
 invasion. From typically a single infection\, a merozoite multiplies over 
 rounds of replication\, with up to 20 parasites egressing into the bloodst
 ream each generation. Here\, the merozoites have a very short time (about 
 a minute) to adhere and invade a new host cell\, and start a new round of 
 clonal growth. This process\, repeated over weeks\, leads to high fraction
 s of infected RBC and huge numbers of parasites. This is at the root of mo
 st human symptoms (e.g. anaemia and haemorrhage) and mortality. A research
  project is allowing to develop low-cost microscopes in house\, with simil
 ar optical specification to high end commercial units. Live single cell im
 aging is providing a new class of information which we and others refer to
  as "invasion phenotypes"." 
LOCATION:Winstanley Lecture Hall\, Trinity College
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