Malaria Parasite's Cloak Of Invisibility

[Guest guest]

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19125644.500 & feedId=health_rss20

 

 

Malaria Parasite's Cloak Of Invisibility

12 August 2006

 

New Scientist

 

THE secret to how malaria evades being detected by immune cells in the

liver has been uncovered. The Plasmodium parasite initially invades

liver cells and reproduces, but exactly how it spreads to red blood

cells throughout the body was not known.

 

By studying infected mice, Angelika Sturm at the Bernhard Nocht

Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany, and colleagues

found that the parasite kills infected liver cells and then forces

them through membranes into blood vessels, sending parasite-filled

containers into the bloodstream. At the same time the parasite mops up

calcium ions, which would otherwise trigger " eat me " signals that

immune cells can detect (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1129720).

From issue 2564 of New Scientist magazine, 12 August 2006, page 15