| Project/Area Number |
16KK0183
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| Research Category |
Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Parasitology (including sanitary zoology)
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| Research Institution | Nagasaki University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017 – 2020
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥14,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥11,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,360,000)
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| Keywords | マラリア / メロゾイト / 赤血球侵入 / 滑走運動 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Plasmodium malaria parasites use a unique form of locomotion termed gliding motility to move through host tissues and invade cells. The process is substrate-dependent and powered by an actomyosin motor that drives the posterior translocation of extracellular adhesins, which in turn propel the parasite forward. Gliding motility is essential for tissue translocation in the sporozoite and ookinete stages, however, the short-lived erythrocyte-invading merozoite stage has never been observed to undergo gliding movement. Here for the first time we reveal that blood stage Plasmodium merozoites use gliding motility for translocation in addition to host cell invasion. The process is powered by a conserved actomyosin motor and glideosome complex and is regulated by a complex signaling pathway. This significantly enhances our understanding of merozoite-host interactions in malaria parasites.
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
マラリア原虫の赤血球侵入機構の解明により、マラリア原虫増殖を阻害できる具体的な標的が明らかになるため、世界中の研究者が全貌の解明を急いでいるがその機構は複雑で未だ全容が明らかになっていない。本研究で発見したマラリア原虫メロゾイトの赤血球侵入時における滑走運動は、赤血球侵入に必須な原虫分子と協調していることが推察されるため、滑走運動に注目することで新たな宿主感染現象を明らかにでき、ワクチン開発や創薬に向けた研究へと発展していくものと考えている。
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