• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Clocking in with malaria parasites

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 9, 2020
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: © 2020 Amit Subudhi

The parasites responsible for malaria seem to march to their own beat.

The mystery behind the molecular basis of how these parasites synch their rhythm in replication to the host’s clock-driven rhythms has been solved. A new genetic analysis led by KAUST scientists revealed Plasmodium parasites have internal timekeeping systems that help the organism maintain essential oscillations in gene expression levels and cell cycle activities.

Just as humans reset their own biological clocks in response to light-dark cues, malaria parasites time their own rhythms to host signals to maximize their growth success.

The finding of a genetic metronome within the malaria parasite, as well as one component of this timekeeping mechanism, could open new pathways for combatting one of the world’s deadliest contagious diseases. Saudi Arabia is on the verge of malaria eradication, but the disease continues to affect its southwestern border, where infections have proven difficult to treat and parasites are increasingly resistant to existing drugs.

“The knowledge from our study has the potential to inform new therapies for malaria elimination,” says Amit Subudhi, a postdoctoral research fellow in Arnab Pain’s group and the first author of the new report. “This information might allow doctors to formulate drug regimens in which patients take anti-malarial therapies with known target genes at particular times of the day so as to eliminate the malaria parasite more effectively.”

Subudhi and Pain teamed up with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, U.K., and from Nagasaki University, Japan, to profile gene activity patterns in mouse-infecting malaria parasites. They found that more than half of all the parasite’s genes exhibited 24-hour cycles of activity, ramping up and down at regular daily intervals. This pattern is consistent with the characteristic rhythms of fevers and chills seen in people infected with malaria.

Around half of the rhythmic genes lost their periodicity when the clocks of the parasite and mouse fell out of synchrony. Likewise ; in a lab dish, human malaria parasites cultured without timing cues also displayed some degree of daily rhythmicity in gene expression. One of these genes coded for a receptor protein called SR10, which the researchers showed acts as a cog in the parasite’s intrinsic clock machinery.

Without this protein, the usual 24-hour cycle of the rodent Plasmodium parasite became shorter, leading to defects in DNA replication and other cellular processes as well as protein breakdown. According to Subudhi, SR10 likely serves as a link between host circadian rhythms and the endogenous time-keeping ability of the parasite.

The KAUST researchers plan to dissect the molecular components of the SR10-mediated signaling pathway in search of novel drug targets. “Our work does not stop here,” notes Pain. “Our next aim is to understand the chemical nature of the host-derived cues that the parasite receives to adjust its life cycle and its biological clock,” he says.

###

Media Contact
Carolyn Unck
[email protected]

Original Source

https://discovery.kaust.edu.sa/en/article/994/clocking-in-with-malaria-parasites

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16593-y

Tags: BiologyDisease in the Developing WorldGeneticsInfectious/Emerging DiseasesMicrobiologyParasitology
Share16Tweet10Share3ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Breakthrough AI Tool Uncovers Hidden Early Warning Signs of Disease

Breakthrough AI Tool Uncovers Hidden Early Warning Signs of Disease

October 1, 2025
Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Antimicrobial Coumarin Derivatives

Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Antimicrobial Coumarin Derivatives

October 1, 2025

Unveiling Phosphate Uptake Genes in Orychophragmus Violaceus

October 1, 2025

DNA Evidence Fills Critical Gaps in Global Conservation Databases for Amazon Wildlife

October 1, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    89 shares
    Share 36 Tweet 22
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    74 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • How Donor Human Milk Storage Impacts Gut Health in Preemies

    62 shares
    Share 25 Tweet 16
  • Scientists Discover and Synthesize Active Compound in Magic Mushrooms Again

    57 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 14

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Neonatal Morbidity in Early Fetal Growth Restriction: Anticoagulants’ Role

Prognostic Model for Colorectal Cancer Developed

New AI Technology Revolutionizes Visualization Inside Fusion Energy Systems

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 60 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.