A comparative transcriptomic analysis of replicating and dormant liver stages of the relapsing malaria parasite <i>Plasmodium cynomolgi</i>.
other · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29215331.
- Also identified by DOI 10.7554/eLife.29605 and PMC identifier 5758109.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
<i>Plasmodium</i> liver hypnozoites, which cause disease relapse, are widely considered to be the last barrier towards malaria eradication. The biology of this quiescent form of the parasite is poorly understood which hinders drug discovery. We report a comparative transcriptomic dataset of replicating liver schizonts and dormant hypnozoites of the relapsing parasite <i>Plasmodium cynomolgi</i>. Hypnozoites express only 34% of <i>Plasmodium</i> physiological pathways, while 91% are expressed in replicating schizonts. Few known malaria drug targets are expressed in quiescent parasites, but pathways involved in microbial dormancy, maintenance of genome integrity and ATP homeostasis were robustly expressed. Several transcripts encoding heavy metal transporters were expressed in hypnozoites and the copper chelator neocuproine was cidal to all liver stage parasites. This transcriptomic dataset is a valuable resource for the discovery of vaccines and effective treatments to combat vivax malaria.
Medical subject headings
- Gene Expression Profiling
- Liver
- Macaca mulatta
- Plasmodium cynomolgi
- Schizonts