Discovery about fertilization points way to possible malaria vaccine

[Mugu]

International investigations of an organism that one UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher calls a “silly little green scum” have led to key insights into the basic mechanisms of reproduction.

The findings may help explain why species can almost never interbreed, and also point to a possible way to thwart the spread of malaria, a disease that kills about 1 million people each year, primarily children in sub-Saharan Africa.

In a study appearing online today and to be published in the April 14 issue of the journal Genes and Development, researchers from UT Southwestern have found that sexual reproduction begins with a two genetically different steps: First, two reproductive cells must first latch onto each other with one protein, and secondly, they must fuse their membranes to form a single cell using a different protein.

The UT Southwestern scientists collaborated with malaria experts at Imperial College London and found that the parasite causing the disease also uses this two-step process. When they blocked “male” and “female” malarial cells from fusing, spread of the mosquito-borne disease was stopped.


Complete article at:
http://www.physorg.com/news125688029.html