To deal with malaria’s growing resistance to existing drugs, researchers are exploring new areas of the deadly parasite’s life cycle. Research published in PLOS Pathogens has identified key processes the malaria parasite uses to remodel blood cells it hides inside.
Senior author Paul Gilson, an associate professor at Burney University, said the growing resistance to antimalarial medicines needs to be addressed soon to avoid serious treatment failures in the future.
“It’s only a matter of time before resistance becomes so bad that current measures perhaps become worthless,” he said.
“Current drugs tend to target very similar things. By discovering new targets and developing drugs to these, we can hopefully overcome resistance.
“Our research identifies processes in the parasites that are essential for its survival. And the more we understand about those processes, the better position we’re in to develop new treatments to block those processes.”
The research, A/Prof Gilson explains, looked into the nature of malaria parasites, particularly their need to renovate their host blood cells to grow rapidly and to escape the immune system.
The dynamic is analogous to an international arrivals terminal in need of better security.
“The renovations are carried out by special exported proteins made by the parasite that are only allowed to travel into the blood cell if they have the right passport,” he said.
“We used to think that gateways around the parasite called PTEX acted like immigration officers at the airport only allowing exported proteins with the right passports to pass through.
“What this study now shows is that the immigration officers appear to leave the airport and travel inside the parasites to check the exported protein passports not long after they are first made.
“The officers then pair up with their exported proteins and take them to the airport to let them go straight through into the blood cells.”
A/Prof Gilson said that hopefully, a greater understanding of the ways parasite proteins enter and modify blood cells could result in new drugs that block exported proteins from carrying out essential renovations to their blood cells.
The COVID pandemic has disrupted and set back malaria elimination programs in several countries, making the need for new drug developments to combat the disease all the more vital.
“Many countries only have very limited resources, and it’s estimated that there’s been quite a big increase in the number of malaria cases around the world because so much effort has been diverted to combat COVID,” he said.
Even though COVID has taken the global spotlight, A/Prof Gilson said that malaria is still a major issue. In 2020 there were an estimated 241 million cases of malaria worldwide, with an estimated 627 000 deaths, according to World Health Organization figures.
A/Prof Gilson said that over recent years significant inroads have been made in eliminating malaria, pointing out that annual death rates were in the millions at the start of the 21st century.
“We can’t let COVID undermine all the great work that’s been achieved over the years, as we aim to one day totally eliminate malaria.”
“Research into new drugs to combat malaria parasites, which are becoming resistant to existing drugs, is a crucial part of these efforts.”
Source: Burnet Institute
