Artemisinin resistance in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, originates from its initial transcriptional response.

ABSTRACT: The emergence and spread of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum, first in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), and now in East Africa, is a major threat to global malaria elimination ambitions. To investigate the artemisinin resistance mechanism, transcriptome analysis was conducted of 577 P. falciparum isolates collected in the GMS between 2016-2018. A specific artemisinin resistance-associated transcriptional profile was identified that involves a broad but discrete set of biological functions related to proteotoxic stress, host cytoplasm remodelling, and REDOX metabolism. The artemisinin resistance-associated transcriptional profile evolved from initial transcriptional responses of susceptible parasites to artemisinin. The genetic basis for this adapted response is likely to be complex.

SUBMITTER: Zhu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8960834 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature