| Budget Amount *help |
¥5,330,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,230,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
|
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In order to propagate within the mammalian host, malaria parasites must invade RBC. This process offers a window of opportunity targeting the parasites with drugs or vaccines. However, the dynamics of molecular interactions of parasite proteins with host cells remain largely unknown. We analyzed the invasion kinetics of Plasmodium yoelii by time-lapse imaging and found that the shape of P. yoelii merozoite changes from elongated oval to spherical body. During this period merozoites were able to attach to the RBC membrane, but were not able to invade. We proposed that this morphological change of P. yoelii merozoites is likely related to the secretion or activation of invasion-related proteins, and indeed we found that AMA1 and EBL were transferred from the apical to the surface of merozoites during this transition phase. We also developed a method to isolate viable invasive P. yoelii merozoites and confirmed PyAMA1/RON2/4/5 localization during RBC invasion and a complex formation.
|
