Generation of a line that induces gametocyte production in P. knowlesi

• Grant number: 17/00087-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: June 01, 2017
• End date: May 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Alejandro Miguel Katzin
• Grantee: Heloisa Berti Gabriel
• Supervisor: Andrew Paul Waters
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Glasgow, Scotland
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/12054-3 - Characterization of the biochemical and biological role of the MenA gene in asexual and sexual malarial stages, BP.PD

Abstract

Malaria is one of the most important infectious diseases in the world, causing about 200 million clinical cases and nearly 600 thousand deaths every year. The causative agent of malaria is a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium, where five species of this parasites cause this disease. P. knowlesi, traditionally considered an infection of monkeys cause severe malaria is an excellent model for experimental studies and is amenable to genetic manipulation, with reported transfection efficiencies similar to those achieved with the rodent malaria model Plasmodium berghei and far surpassing those attained in P. falciparum, as also phylogenetically closely related to Plasmodium vivax. Being necessary to deepen the studies with emphasis in molecular mechanisms controlling the asexual/sexual developmental decision in malaria parasites and unveils new targets in the long-standing aim of interrupting malaria transmission by preventing the formation and/or maturation of the parasite's sexual stages. This project has as main objective to generate a line that can control the production of gametocytes being used for several molecular studies and tests of new drugs. (AU)