Calcium signaling in Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes

• Grant number: 19/05708-8
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: June 02, 2025
• End date: July 16, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Biochemistry of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Célia Regina da Silva Garcia
• Grantee: Célia Regina da Silva Garcia
• Visiting researcher: Matthias Marti
• Visiting researcher institution: University of Glasgow, Scotland
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/08684-7 - Decoding Plasmodium signaling at molecular level as a new tool to the development of new antimalarials, AP.TEM

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum is the responsible for the most severe form of malaria in humans, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. Parasite transmission from humans to the mosquito vector is mediated by sexual stages (gametocytes) that are formed within the erythrocytes. Intracellular Ca2+ is a vital second messenger and controls several physiological processes in the Plasmodium biology. The Ca2+ signaling in the asexual stages have been studied in the last past decades by several groups, however, the knowledge regarding this signaling pathway among gametocytes is still fragmentary. Here we propose to decipher the Ca2+ signaling in P. falciparum gametocytes. For this, we will rely on the expertise of Prof. Matthias Marti (a specialist in Plasmodium gametocytes) and the construction of gametocyte-forming Plasmodium strain that also encodes the Ca2+ indicator GCaMP3. (AU)