Molecular mechanisms of host cell traversal by malaria sporozoites

Abstract

Malaria is a pernicious infectious disease caused by apicomplexan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Each year, malaria afflicts over 200 million people, causing considerable morbidity, loss to gross domestic product of endemic countries, and more than 420,000 deaths. A central feature of the virulence of malaria parasites is the ability of sporozoite forms injected by a mosquito to navigate from the inoculation site in the skin through host tissues to infect the liver. The ability for sporozoites to traverse through different host cell types is very important for the successful development of parasites within the mammalian host. Over the past decade, our understanding of the role of host ce..