Defining the minimal enzymatic requirements for fatty acid scavenging from lysophosphatidylcholine by erythrocytic #Plasmodium falciparum Publication date: April 2026 Source: International Journal for Parasitology, Volume 56, Issue 4 Author(s): Jiapeng Liu, Katherine R. Fike, Seema Dalal, Christie Dapper, Michael Klemba

Defining the minimal enzymatic requirements for fatty acid scavenging from lysophosphatidylcholine by erythrocytic #Plasmodium falciparum IntJ_Parasitol

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#PLASMODIUM #LIFE #CYCLE
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Meanwhile, in a moist chamber…
#plasmodium #slimemoulds #slimemolds #śluzowce #Myxogastria #Eumycetozoa #Amoebozoa

Molecular detection of avian hemoparasites (#Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in resident and migratory birds from a urban fragment of tropical dry forest in northern Colombia Publication date: Available online 20 March 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Miguel Mateo Rodríguez, Fernando S. Flores, Lyda R. Castro

Molecular detection of avian hemoparasites (#Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in resident and migratory birds from a urban fragment of tropical dry forest in northern Colombia #ActaTropica

Flow cytometry-based evaluation of hepatic infection by non-fluorescent #Plasmodium parasites Publication date: Available online 19 March 2026 Source: International Journal for Parasitology Author(s): Bárbara Teixeira, Helena Nunes-Cabaço, Maria M. Mota, Diana Fontinha, Miguel Prudêncio

Flow cytometry-based evaluation of hepatic infection by non-fluorescent #Plasmodium parasites IntJ_Parasitol

Molecular detection of avian hemoparasites (#Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in resident and migratory birds from a urban fragment of tropical dry forest in northern Colombia Publication date: Available online 20 March 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Miguel Mateo Rodríguez, Fernando S. Flores, Lyda R. Castro

Molecular detection of avian hemoparasites (#Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in resident and migratory birds from a urban fragment of tropical dry forest in northern Colombia #ActaTropica

Flow cytometry-based evaluation of hepatic infection by non-fluorescent #Plasmodium parasites Publication date: Available online 19 March 2026 Source: International Journal for Parasitology Author(s): Bárbara Teixeira, Helena Nunes-Cabaço, Maria M. Mota, Diana Fontinha, Miguel Prudêncio

Flow cytometry-based evaluation of hepatic infection by non-fluorescent #Plasmodium parasites IntJ_Parasitol

LL-37 selectively targets #Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes and exhibits antimalarial activity by Xiaoqin He, Yutong Zhang, Junchao Lou, Jingyao Wu, Sui Xu, Guoding Zhu, Jianxia Tang, Yaqun Fang, Jun Cao Malaria control is challenged by the emergence of resistance to virtually all antimalarial drugs, from the frontline artemisinin to other classes, highlighting the critical need for new therapies. This study demonstrates that the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 exhibits antiplasmodial activity against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant parasites in vitro. LL-37 selectively targets infected red blood cells through membrane disruption mediated by phosphatidylserine externalization and cholesterol depletion. Elevated plasma LL-37/CRAMP levels were observed in malaria patients and infected mice, and exogenous LL-37/CRAMP administration reduced parasitemia, improved survival, and modulated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in a mouse model. CRAMP-deficient mice showed higher susceptibility to infection, underscoring its role in host defense. Our findings reveal a naturally occurring host defense mechanism centered on LL-37/CRAMP, which acts through direct targeting of the infected erythrocyte membrane. However, therapeutic administration after infection establishment showed limited efficacy, likely due to rapid peptide degradation in vivo, and the effective concentrations required for direct killing in vitro are substantially higher than endogenous systemic levels. The reduction in systemic cytokines observed in treated mice is likely primarily attributable to decreased parasite burden rather than direct immunomodulation. Further studies are needed to evaluate stabilized analogs, optimized delivery strategies, and combination approaches before therapeutic applications can be considered.

LL-37 selectively targets #Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes and exhibits antimalarial activity PLOSPathogens

LL-37 selectively targets #Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes and exhibits antimalarial activity by Xiaoqin He, Yutong Zhang, Junchao Lou, Jingyao Wu, Sui Xu, Guoding Zhu, Jianxia Tang, Yaqun Fang, Jun Cao Malaria control is challenged by the emergence of resistance to virtually all antimalarial drugs, from the frontline artemisinin to other classes, highlighting the critical need for new therapies. This study demonstrates that the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 exhibits antiplasmodial activity against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant parasites in vitro. LL-37 selectively targets infected red blood cells through membrane disruption mediated by phosphatidylserine externalization and cholesterol depletion. Elevated plasma LL-37/CRAMP levels were observed in malaria patients and infected mice, and exogenous LL-37/CRAMP administration reduced parasitemia, improved survival, and modulated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in a mouse model. CRAMP-deficient mice showed higher susceptibility to infection, underscoring its role in host defense. Our findings reveal a naturally occurring host defense mechanism centered on LL-37/CRAMP, which acts through direct targeting of the infected erythrocyte membrane. However, therapeutic administration after infection establishment showed limited efficacy, likely due to rapid peptide degradation in vivo, and the effective concentrations required for direct killing in vitro are substantially higher than endogenous systemic levels. The reduction in systemic cytokines observed in treated mice is likely primarily attributable to decreased parasite burden rather than direct immunomodulation. Further studies are needed to evaluate stabilized analogs, optimized delivery strategies, and combination approaches before therapeutic applications can be considered.

LL-37 selectively targets #Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes and exhibits antimalarial activity PLOSPathogens

Fifty shades of iron: Unorthodox mechanisms of iron acquisition and utilization in blood-stage #Plasmodium parasites by Kade M. Loveridge, Paul A. Sigala #Plasmodium falciparum parasites cause severe human malaria and depend on iron for essential metabolic processes during all phases of their complicated lifecycle, including when growing in human red blood cells (RBCs). Despite decades of study, the major pathways by which malaria parasites access, distribute, and regulate iron during blood-stage infection remain incompletely defined. The parasite genome lacks many canonical transporters, storage proteins, reductases, and regulatory circuits that are essential for maintaining iron homeostasis in model organisms. Emerging evidence suggests that blood-stage parasites employ unconventional strategies to maintain iron homeostasis. In this review, we synthesize current knowledge of how blood-stage P. falciparum manages iron, from initial uptake through cellular distribution to utilization, highlighting the key proteins and pathways that shape parasite iron metabolism. We also identify major unanswered questions that will guide future efforts to understand and therapeutically target this essential aspect of #Plasmodium biology.

Fifty shades of iron: Unorthodox mechanisms of iron acquisition and utilization in blood-stage #Plasmodium parasites PLOSPathogens

Fifty shades of iron: Unorthodox mechanisms of iron acquisition and utilization in blood-stage #Plasmodium parasites by Kade M. Loveridge, Paul A. Sigala #Plasmodium falciparum parasites cause severe human malaria and depend on iron for essential metabolic processes during all phases of their complicated lifecycle, including when growing in human red blood cells (RBCs). Despite decades of study, the major pathways by which malaria parasites access, distribute, and regulate iron during blood-stage infection remain incompletely defined. The parasite genome lacks many canonical transporters, storage proteins, reductases, and regulatory circuits that are essential for maintaining iron homeostasis in model organisms. Emerging evidence suggests that blood-stage parasites employ unconventional strategies to maintain iron homeostasis. In this review, we synthesize current knowledge of how blood-stage P. falciparum manages iron, from initial uptake through cellular distribution to utilization, highlighting the key proteins and pathways that shape parasite iron metabolism. We also identify major unanswered questions that will guide future efforts to understand and therapeutically target this essential aspect of #Plasmodium biology.

Fifty shades of iron: Unorthodox mechanisms of iron acquisition and utilization in blood-stage #Plasmodium parasites PLOSPathogens

With a little help from my friend: engaging CD44 facilitates #Plasmodium falciparum invasion of erythrocytes Merozoite invasion in erythrocytes is a complex process. Kongsomboonvech et al. identify the host transmembrane protein CD44 as a critical coreceptor that, when crosslinked, significantly enhances the ability of #Plasmodium falciparum to invade human erythrocytes. It provides a molecular link between early #parasite attachment and the final, essential invasion steps.

With a little help from my friend: engaging CD44 facilitates #Plasmodium falciparum invasion of erythrocytes Trends_Parasitol

With a little help from my friend: engaging CD44 facilitates #Plasmodium falciparum invasion of erythrocytes Merozoite invasion in erythrocytes is a complex process. Kongsomboonvech et al. identify the host transmembrane protein CD44 as a critical coreceptor that, when crosslinked, significantly enhances the ability of #Plasmodium falciparum to invade human erythrocytes. It provides a molecular link between early #parasite attachment and the final, essential invasion steps.

With a little help from my friend: engaging CD44 facilitates #Plasmodium falciparum invasion of erythrocytes Trends_Parasitol

New #OpenAccess research in #RESMedVetEnt

A multiplex #assay to detect #mosquito species, bloodmeal host source and #Plasmodium in #malaria vectors using #Nanopore amplicon #sequencing
doi.org/10.1111/mve.70055

#EntoMethods #InsectVectors #InsectBorneDiseases
@wileyecology.bsky.social

Now in Nature Comms w/ @ritatewari.bsky.social, Pushkar Sharma & @ryanase.bsky.social (thanks!). Aurora kinases fascinate me: single ancestor - parallel duplications in eukaryotes - paralogs with distinct functions. ARK1 is the CPC Aurora in the malaria parasite. rdcu.be/e5NRT #plasmodium #mitosis

Check out this preprint and super useful tool to compare temporal expression between #Plasmodium knowlesi and P. #vivax

#Plasmodium falciparum stomatin-like protein forms a putative complex with a metalloprotease in distinct mitochondrial loci by Julie M.J. Verhoef, Ezra T. Bekkering, Cas Boshoven, Megan Hannon, Felix Evers, Nicholas I. Proellochs, Cornelia G. Spruijt, Taco W. A. Kooij Members of the Stomatin, Prohibitin, Flotillin and HflK/C (SPFH) protein family form large membrane anchored or spanning complexes and are involved in various functions in different organelles. The human malaria causing parasite #Plasmodium falciparum harbors four SPFH proteins, including prohibitin 1 and 2, prohibitin-like protein (PHBL), and stomatin-like protein (STOML), which all localize to the parasite mitochondrion. In the murine model parasite #Plasmodium berghei, STOML appears essential for asexual blood-stage (ABS) development and is localized to puncta on mitochondrial branching points in oocyst stages. In this study, we show that deletion of STOML causes a significant growth defect and slower ABS development, while sexual-stage development remains unaffected. Parasites lacking STOML were not more sensitive to respiratory chain targeting drugs, rendering a function of STOML in respiratory chain assembly unlikely. Epitope tagging of endogenous STOML revealed a distinct punctate localization on branching points and endings of the ABS mitochondrial network. STOML resides in a large protein complex and pulldown experiments identified a zinc dependent metalloprotease, FtsH, as a likely interaction partner. The predicted AlphaFold2 structure of STOML shows high similarity with the bacterial HflK/C, which has been shown to form a large vault-like structure around bacterial FtsH hexamers. Combined, our results suggest that a similar STOML-FtsH complex localized to specific loci of P. falciparum mitochondria facilitate the parasite’s ABS development.

#Plasmodium falciparum stomatin-like protein forms a putative complex with a metalloprotease in distinct mitochondrial loci PLOSPathogens

New preprint out! We made a #Plasmodium knowlesi A1-H.1 #transcriptome time course for asexual blood stages🩸. tinyurl.com/mwd9b8vx
👩‍💻Webtool to compare temporal expression to P. vivax: tinyurl.com/bdz2ndsj

@itmantwerp.bsky.social @eknuepfer.bsky.social @cortesmalaria.bsky.social

#Plasmodium falciparum stomatin-like protein forms a putative complex with a metalloprotease in distinct mitochondrial loci by Julie M.J. Verhoef, Ezra T. Bekkering, Cas Boshoven, Megan Hannon, Felix Evers, Nicholas I. Proellochs, Cornelia G. Spruijt, Taco W. A. Kooij Members of the Stomatin, Prohibitin, Flotillin and HflK/C (SPFH) protein family form large membrane anchored or spanning complexes and are involved in various functions in different organelles. The human malaria causing parasite #Plasmodium falciparum harbors four SPFH proteins, including prohibitin 1 and 2, prohibitin-like protein (PHBL), and stomatin-like protein (STOML), which all localize to the parasite mitochondrion. In the murine model parasite #Plasmodium berghei, STOML appears essential for asexual blood-stage (ABS) development and is localized to puncta on mitochondrial branching points in oocyst stages. In this study, we show that deletion of STOML causes a significant growth defect and slower ABS development, while sexual-stage development remains unaffected. Parasites lacking STOML were not more sensitive to respiratory chain targeting drugs, rendering a function of STOML in respiratory chain assembly unlikely. Epitope tagging of endogenous STOML revealed a distinct punctate localization on branching points and endings of the ABS mitochondrial network. STOML resides in a large protein complex and pulldown experiments identified a zinc dependent metalloprotease, FtsH, as a likely interaction partner. The predicted AlphaFold2 structure of STOML shows high similarity with the bacterial HflK/C, which has been shown to form a large vault-like structure around bacterial FtsH hexamers. Combined, our results suggest that a similar STOML-FtsH complex localized to specific loci of P. falciparum mitochondria facilitate the parasite’s ABS development.

#Plasmodium falciparum stomatin-like protein forms a putative complex with a metalloprotease in distinct mitochondrial loci PLOSPathogens

New research article

Parasite clearance in patients with #Plasmodium #vivax monoinfection treated with #artesunate in Cambodia: an observational secondary analysis of trial data

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

#IDSky #ClinMicro #malaria #AMR #OpenAccess #OA

JCB’s February issue is here! rupress.org/jcb/issue/22...
🔬 The cover shows the organelle organization of #Plasmodium falciparum while infecting a human red blood cell. From Shahar et al. @florentin-lab.bsky.social: rupress.org/jcb/article/...

@jcb.org's February issue is here! rupress.org/jcb/issue/22...
🔬 The cover shows the organelle organization of #Plasmodium falciparum while infecting a human red blood cell. From Shahar et al. @florentin-lab.bsky.social: rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Invasion and Development of #Plasmodium falciparum in Erythroblasts of Humans Carrying G6PD Viangchan Publication date: Available online 29 January 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Kanyarat Boonpeng, Attakorn Palasuwan, Nutpakal Ketprasit, Kasem Kulkeaw, Duangdao Palasuwan

Invasion and Development of #Plasmodium falciparum in Erythroblasts of Humans Carrying G6PD Viangchan #ActaTropica

Development and Implementation of Droplet Digital PCR Assays for Accurate Quantification of #Plasmodium vivax Parasitemia and G6PD Viangchan Genotyping Publication date: Available online 29 January 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Suttipat Srisutham, Kittiphit Ausit, Kanyarat Boonpeng, Mattrai Suksuwanont, Kaewkanha Kijprasong

Development and Implementation of Droplet Digital PCR Assays for Accurate Quantification of #Plasmodium vivax Parasitemia and G6PD Viangchan Genotyping #ActaTropica

Invasion and Development of #Plasmodium falciparum in Erythroblasts of Humans Carrying G6PD Viangchan Publication date: Available online 29 January 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Kanyarat Boonpeng, Attakorn Palasuwan, Nutpakal Ketprasit, Kasem Kulkeaw, Duangdao Palasuwan

Invasion and Development of #Plasmodium falciparum in Erythroblasts of Humans Carrying G6PD Viangchan #ActaTropica

Development and Implementation of Droplet Digital PCR Assays for Accurate Quantification of #Plasmodium vivax Parasitemia and G6PD Viangchan Genotyping Publication date: Available online 29 January 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Suttipat Srisutham, Kittiphit Ausit, Kanyarat Boonpeng, Mattrai Suksuwanont, Kaewkanha Kijprasong

Development and Implementation of Droplet Digital PCR Assays for Accurate Quantification of #Plasmodium vivax Parasitemia and G6PD Viangchan Genotyping #ActaTropica

Comparison of routine clinical profiles of patients with imported #Plasmodium falciparum #malaria and co-infection with #Plasmodium ovale wallikeri or #Plasmodium ovale curtisi Publication date: Available online 16 January 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Javier Balsa-Vázquez, José Miguel Rubio-Muñoz, Alexandre Duvignaud, Sami Alcedo, Ana Pérez de Ayala, Joaquín Salas-Coronas, Matilde Elía-López, Paolo Cattaneo, Coral Arévalo-Cañas, Silvia García-Bujalance, José Manuel Ruiz-Giardín, Francesca Norman, Gerardo Rojo-Marcos, TropNet Plasmodium ovale study group

Comparison of routine clinical profiles of patients with imported #Plasmodium falciparum #malaria and co-infection with #Plasmodium ovale wallikeri or #Plasmodium ovale curtisi #ActaTropica

Prevalence, intensity, and risk factors of schistosomiasis and intestinal parasitic infections among primary school children in northern Uganda: Implications for public health interventions Author summary Schistosomiasis and intestinal parasitic infections are significant public health challenges, especially in low-resource settings like Northern Uganda. These infections can lead to…

#ScienceReadForSunday: Automated reporting of primaquine dose efficacy, tolerability and safety for #Plasmodium #vivax #malaria using a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis
journals.plos.org/plosntds/art...

Comparison of routine clinical profiles of patients with imported #Plasmodium falciparum #malaria and co-infection with #Plasmodium ovale wallikeri or #Plasmodium ovale curtisi Publication date: Available online 16 January 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Javier Balsa-Vázquez, José Miguel Rubio-Muñoz, Alexandre Duvignaud, Sami Alcedo, Ana Pérez de Ayala, Joaquín Salas-Coronas, Matilde Elía-López, Paolo Cattaneo, Coral Arévalo-Cañas, Silvia García-Bujalance, José Manuel Ruiz-Giardín, Francesca Norman, Gerardo Rojo-Marcos, TropNet Plasmodium ovale study group

Comparison of routine clinical profiles of patients with imported #Plasmodium falciparum #malaria and co-infection with #Plasmodium ovale wallikeri or #Plasmodium ovale curtisi #ActaTropica

New research article

Sex-based differences in #Plasmodium infection in the control groups of controlled human malaria infection trials in #malaria naive populations in the USA and the Netherlands: a pooled analysis

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

#IDSky #ClinMicro #CHIM #OpenAccess #OA