Oxidative stress-induced alterations of the host erythrocyte by the malaria parasite. The malaria parasite spends part of its lifecycle inside the red blood cells of its host. During this time, the parasite modifies many of the features of the red blood cell and subjects it to high levels of oxidative stress. We will use and develop a variety of fluorescence and microscopic techniques to understand the molecular basis of the alterations in the organization of membrane proteins in malaria parasit ....Oxidative stress-induced alterations of the host erythrocyte by the malaria parasite. The malaria parasite spends part of its lifecycle inside the red blood cells of its host. During this time, the parasite modifies many of the features of the red blood cell and subjects it to high levels of oxidative stress. We will use and develop a variety of fluorescence and microscopic techniques to understand the molecular basis of the alterations in the organization of membrane proteins in malaria parasite-infected red blood cells. We will examine the roles of oxidative stress and of parasite proteins in modulating the properties of the host cell membrane.Read moreRead less
An Investigation of the Structure and Conformational Stability of a Membrane Associating Protein and its Petidic Ligands. The genome of the parasite most commonly responsible for fatal malaria will be completed this year. Structural elucidations of proteins identified from these genomic data will expedite the identification and classification of proteins synthesised by the parasite that might be developed as vaccines or as targets for anti-malarial therapeutics. In this work, recent developmen ....An Investigation of the Structure and Conformational Stability of a Membrane Associating Protein and its Petidic Ligands. The genome of the parasite most commonly responsible for fatal malaria will be completed this year. Structural elucidations of proteins identified from these genomic data will expedite the identification and classification of proteins synthesised by the parasite that might be developed as vaccines or as targets for anti-malarial therapeutics. In this work, recent developments in structural biology will be employed to obtain the structure of a vaccine candidate and to identify environmental factors that influence the stability of this structure. A novel approach will be taken to determine the conformation of ligands bound to such proteins, which will provide a basis for the development of therapeutics.Read moreRead less