14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new study conducted by researchers at the Cambridge-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it would appear that a specific protein in the human body is capable of hindering the motions of malaria-infected cells through tiny channels.
Compared to healthy cells, the infected ones become much less capable of moving forward, which basically means that their ability to infect new portions of the body is impaired. This finding could open up new avenues of research in developing a viable cure against malaria.
What the newly-found molecule basically does is impede the microcirculation of malaria-infected red blood cells, by contributing to enhancing the stiffness of cellular membranes. This usually occurs within the first 24 hours after the malaria parasite infects its host.
The pathogen requires a total of 48 hours to remodel the host red blood cell according to its needs. During this time, it may be more vulnerable than usual, researchers say, and the new discovery could go a long way towards enabling scientists to take advantage of this weak point.
MIT experts say that the protein in question is called RESA. After it stiffens the membranes, infected cells find it very difficult to move through blood vessels (including capillaries), especially when the patient is running a high fever.
For this new study, the American researchers collaborated with colleagues from the Institut Pasteur and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Their work could benefit an estimated 300 to 500 million people annually.
Details of the new investigation were published in the August 30 online issue of Scientific Reports, a journal edited by Nature. The work was coordinated by MIT Department of Materials Engineering and Engineering principal research scientist Mingh Dao.
He worked closely together with DMSE researcher Monica Diez Silva and KAIST assistant professor of physics, YongKeun Park. The senior author of the paper is the current director of the National Science Foundation, Subra Suresh, formerly a dean with the MIT School of Engineering.
“The new work combines the latest advances in genetics, microfabrication, nanomechanics and computational modeling by bringing together interdisciplinary and international teams,” Suresh says.
TSingapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Center, the National Institutes of Health, the KAIST Institute for Optical Science and Technology, and the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche provided the funds for this investigation.