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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2008;300(9):1016.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The malaria parasite produces a number of proteins that empower it to hijack and remodel human red blood cells, according to a new study (Maier AG et al. Cell. 2008;134[1]:48-61).

A team led by researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, disabled a large number of genes to identify proteins that are exported into Plasmodium falciparum–infected red blood cells and are involved in remodeling these cells.

Eight genes were identified that encode proteins needed by the parasite to export an adhesin protein that allows infected cells to stick to blood vessels and to assemble knobs that function as physical platforms for anchoring that adhesin at the red cell surface. The researchers also showed that multiple proteins play a role in generating increased rigidity of infected red blood cells. They noted that their findings may provide targets for antivirulence-based . . . [Full Text of this Article]