Premium
Scent of a parasite: isoprenoids in malaria
Author(s) -
Odom Audrey Ragan
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.207.2
Subject(s) - malaria , plasmodium falciparum , terpenoid , biology , artemisinin , terpene , metabolite , antimicrobial , protozoa , plasmodium (life cycle) , microbiology and biotechnology , parasite hosting , biochemistry , immunology , world wide web , computer science
Severe malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for nearly one million deaths per year. New drugs are urgently needed to treat malaria, due to widespread resistance to many antimalarial therapies and emerging resistance to artemisinin. P. falciparum parasites contain an essential metabolic pathway to produce a class of compounds known as isoprenoids. This pathway proceeds through the key metabolite methylerythritol phosphate (MEP). The MEP pathway is an enticing antimicrobial drug target, since it is essential in other important pathogens, including Gram negative bacteria and Mycobacterium tuberculosis , but is not found in humans. Isoprenoids comprise a large and complex set of metabolites that are used for diverse functions in other biological systems, particularly plants. We have begun to address which isoprenoids are made by malaria parasites, and why this class of compounds is essential in P. falciparum . We have initiated a variety of metabolomics methods to identify the isoprenoids produced by cultured intraerythrocytic P. falciparum . These studies have revealed a large number of organic compounds, including plant‐like terpenes, that are specific to P. falciparum and not present in cultured erythrocytes alone. Ongoing studies examine the biological roles of these compounds in intraerythrocytic parasite development and odorant reception by the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles gambiae.