Australian scientists discover secret to fight malaria - targeting 'sticky' proteins could put an end to the disease

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Australian scientists have identified a potential treatment to combat malaria. Researchers in Melbourne believe their discovery could be a major breakthrough in the fight against the disease. The research involving the scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, and associates at Oxford and Liverpool universities, has uncovered the process that helps the disease hijack red blood cells.

Malaria kills more than 2 million people every year, with many of the victims being young children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is caused by a parasite which is transmitted by mosquitoes and infects red blood cells. The need for new treatments for malaria is increasing as the parasite develops resistance to existing treatments.

The malaria parasite - Plasmodium falciparum - effectively hijacks the red blood cells it invades, changing their shape and physical properties dramatically. Among the changes it triggers is the production of the glue-like substance, which enables the infected cells to stick to the walls of the blood vessels. This stops them being passed through the spleen, where the parasites would usually be destroyed by the immune system.

Professor Alan Cowman from the Walter and Eliza Institute, says they have found how the adhesive stops the parasite being flushed out by the immune system, with the help of eight proteins. These proteins allow the infected blood cells to stick to the walls of blood vessels so they are not destroyed by traveling to the spleen. Removing just one of these proteins stopped the infected cells from attaching themselves to the walls of blood vessels.

Professor Cowman says the breakthrough will lead to research into new anti-malarial drugs. "By identifying those proteins it means we have potentially new targets to really concentrate on to try and develop new drugs or new ways of trying to treat Malaria," he said. "It also gives us the potential of trying to develop what are called genetically attenuated parasites, in other words weakened parasites that can no longer stick within the body and these could be used potentially as a live vaccine as has been done with many other things such as Hepatitis B."

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Photos courtesy of BBC News, TopNews, James Jordan/flickr

Original Source: ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and BBC News

Related article: Researchers find secret to fight malaria (includes full Interview with Professor Alan Cowman)