Variant Gene Expression and Antigenic Variation by Malaria Parasites

被引:75
|
作者
Deitsch, Kirk W. [1 ]
Dzikowski, Ron [2 ,3 ]
机构
[1] Cornell Univ, Dept Microbiol & Immunol, Weill Med Coll, New York, NY 10065 USA
[2] Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Hadassah Med Sch, Dept Microbiol & Mol Genet, Inst Med Res Israel Canada, IL-91120 Jerusalem, Israel
[3] Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Hadassah Med Sch, Kuvin Ctr Study Infect & Trop Dis, IL-91120 Jerusalem, Israel
来源
ANNUAL REVIEW OF MICROBIOLOGY, VOL 71 | 2017年 / 71卷
基金
欧洲研究理事会; 美国国家卫生研究院;
关键词
cytoadherence; mutually exclusive expression; epigenetic memory; host-parasite interactions; var gene; Plasmodium falciparum; MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EXPRESSION; PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM MALARIA; PREGNANCY-ASSOCIATED MALARIA; CARBOXY-TERMINAL DOMAIN; RNA-POLYMERASE IICTD; GENOME-WIDE ANALYSIS; VIRULENCE GENES; HISTONE MODIFICATION; EPIGENETIC MEMORY; GIARDIA-LAMBLIA;
D O I
10.1146/annurev-micro-090816-093841
中图分类号
Q93 [微生物学];
学科分类号
071005 ; 100705 ;
摘要
Malaria is a significant threat throughout the developing world. Among the most fascinating aspects of the protozoan parasites responsible for this disease are the methods they employ to avoid the immune system and perpetuate chronic infections. Key among these is antigenic variation: By systematically altering antigens that are displayed to the host's immune system, the parasite renders the adaptive immune response ineffective. For Plasmodium falciparum, the species responsible for the most severe form of human malaria, this process involves a complicated molecular mechanism that results in continuously changing patterns of variant-antigen-encoding gene expression. Although many features of this process remain obscure, significant progress has been made in recent years to decipher various molecular aspects of the regulatory cascade that causes chronic infection.
引用
收藏
页码:625 / +
页数:6
相关论文
共 50 条