Evolution of transcriptional control of antigenic variation and virulence in human and ape malaria parasites.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The most severe form of human malaria is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum. This unicellular organism is a member of a subgenus of Plasmodium called the Laverania that infects apes, with P. falciparum being the only member that infects humans. The exceptional virulence of this species to humans can be largely attributed to a family of variant surface antigens placed by the parasites onto the surface of infected red blood cells that mediate adherence to the vascular endothelium. These proteins are encoded by a large, multicopy gene family called var, with each var gene encoding a different form of the protein. By changing which var gene is expressed, parasites avoid immune recognition, a process called antigenic variation that underlies the chronic na

SUBMITTER: Gross MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8265125 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature