Latest News
04/02/10
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have identified a key protein used by the malaria parasite to transform human red blood cells, ensuring the parasite’s survival.
Their discovery means researchers have a clear target against which to develop a new class of anti-malarial drugs that destroy the parasite.
Each year more than 400 million people contract malaria, and more than one million people, mostly children, die from the disease. The most lethal form of the disease is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which invades red blood cells and drastically modifies them so it can survive.
Professor Alan Cowman, head of the institute’s Infection and Immunity division, said the parasite remodels the red blood cells by exporting hundreds of so-called ‘effector’ proteins into the cytoplasm of the red blood cell. “These are key virulence proteins that allow the parasite to survive in the human and hide from the human immune system,” Professor Cowman said.
“There has to be a mechanism that allows these effector proteins to be exported but until now we haven’t known what it is.”
Dr Justin Boddey, Dr Tony Hodder, Dr Svenja Gunther, Dr Andrew Pearce and Professor Cowman from the institute, in collaboration with Professor Richard Simpson, Dr Heather Patsiouras and Dr Eugene Kapp of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Professor Brendan Crabb and Paul Gilson at the Burnet Institute and Dr Tania de Koning-Ward at Deakin University, have identified a protein called Plasmepsin V as being essential for effector proteins to be exported into the red blood cell.
Their research has been published today in the international journal Nature.
Professor Cowman said experimentation had shown that the action of Plasmepsin V on the effector proteins was the first step in priming the proteins to be exported beyond the parasite’s membrane into the red blood cell cytoplasm.
“Plasmepsin V is responsible for determining that all the hundreds of effector proteins are exported. If we could find drugs to block Plasmepsin V the malaria parasite would die,” he said.
Professor Cowman said because Plasmepsin V was a protease it was an attractive drug target. “Drugs that target proteases have been very effective in combating HIV so, by analogy, drugs that impede the function of Plasmepsin V should also show promise,” he said.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
For further information
Penny Fannin
Strategic Communications Manager
Ph: +61 3 9345 2345
Mob: 0417 125 700
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download high resolution image of Professor Cowman and Dr Boddey Credit: Cameron Wells, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Download high resolution artist's impression of the malaria parasite invading a red blood cell Credit: Drew Berry, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
02/02/10
Nine new laboratory heads have been appointed by the institute following a rigorous selection process. The following scientists, who have made significant contributions to their fields of research, started their new roles on 1 January:
Dr Axel Kallies in the Immunology division, Dr Tony Papenfuss in Bioinformatics, Drs Doug Fairlie and Jeff Babon in Structural Biology, Dr Marnie Blewitt in Molecular Medicine, Dr Clare Scott in Molecular Genetics of Cancer and Drs Jake Baum and Chris Tonkin in Infection and Immunity.
Drs Matthew and Melissa Call from Harvard Medical School will take up their posts as joint laboratory heads in the Structural Biology division later this year.
Below is brief biographical information on our new laboratory heads.
Jake Baum
Infection and Immunity division
Jake completed his PhD in infectious and tropical diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, in 2002. He joined the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in 2003 in the Infection and Immunity division, where he is currently working.
Chris Tonkin
Infection and Immunity division
After completing a summer student scholarship at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in 1998/99, Chris completed his PhD in 2004 at the School of Botany, The University of Melbourne. He then joined the institute in 2004 as a postdoctoral fellow. Chris works in the Infection and Immunity division.
Tony Papenfuss
After completing his PhD at Monash University’s School of Mathematics and Statistics, Tony joined the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre as a medical imaging scientist. Tony joined the Bioinformatics division of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in 2003.
Axel Kallies
Axel completed his PhD in Germany in 2002 at the Free University of Berlin and Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology. In 2004 Axel joined the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. He works in the Immunology Division.
Clare Scott
Molecular Genetics of Cancer division
Clare completed her Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery in 1989 at the University of Melbourne. She then went on to complete her PhD in medical oncology in 2000. Clare has been associated with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute since 1996.
Doug Fairlie
Doug completed his PhD in 1994 at the Department of Biochemistry, Monash University. After a postdoctoral stint at the State University of New York and a Senior Research Officer posting at St Vincent’s Hospital NSW, Doug joined the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in 2001. Doug works in the Structural Biology division.
Jeff Babon
Jeff completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 1999. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Medical Research, London, before joining the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in 2003. Jeff works in the Structural Biology division.
Marnie Blewitt
Marnie completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in 2004. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sydney before joining the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in 2005.
Melissa Call
Melissa completed her PhD in molecular medicine at the University of Auckland in 2002. She then moved to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the US as a postdoctoral fellow. Melissa will join the institute late in 2010 and will jointly run a laboratory in the Structural Biology division with Matthew Call.
Matthew Call
Matthew completed his PhD at Harvard University in March 2007. He has been at the Harvard Medical School ever since. Matthew will join the institute late in 2010 and will jointly run a laboratory in the Structural Biology division with Melissa Call.
19/01/10
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have uncovered a group of proteins that could form the basis of an effective vaccine against malaria.
Presently there is no malaria vaccine available, and these new findings support the development of a vaccine against the blood-stage of malaria.
Malaria is an infection of blood cells and is transmitted by mosquitoes. The most common form of malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Malaria parasites burrow into red blood cells by producing specific proteins. Once inside red blood cells, the parasites rapidly multiply, leading to massive numbers of parasites in the blood stream that can cause severe disease and death.
Dr James Beeson, Dr Freya Fowkes and Dr Jack Richards from the institute’s Infection and Immunity division, along with Dr Julie Simpson from the University of Melbourne, have identified proteins produced by malaria parasites during the blood-stage that are effective at promoting immune responses that protect people from malaria illness.
Their findings are published today in the international journal PLoS Medicine.
Drs Fowkes and Beeson identified these proteins by reviewing and synthesising data from numerous scientific studies that had looked at the relationship between antibodies produced by the human immune system in response to malaria infection and the ability of these antibodies to protect against malaria.
Dr Beeson said malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum was a leading cause of death and disease globally, particularly among young children. “As well as presenting an enormous health burden, malaria also has a major impact on social and economic development in countries where the disease is endemic,” Dr Beeson said. “Vaccines are urgently needed to reduce the burden of malaria and perhaps eventually eradicate the disease.
“A malaria vaccine that stimulates an efficient immune response against the proteins that malaria parasites use to burrow into red blood cells would stop the parasite from replicating and prevent severe illness.”
Dr Fowkes said the review of existing studies had illustrated how little was known about blood-stage malaria proteins and their suitability for use in vaccine development.
“Only about six blood-stage malaria proteins have been well studied out of a potential 100 proteins,” she said. “There is an urgent need for malaria researchers to better coordinate their research efforts on these proteins. This will take us one step closer to developing an effective vaccine.”
The research was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and a Victorian Government Operational Infrastructure Support grant.
For further information
Penny Fannin
Strategic Communications Manager
Ph: +61 3 9345 2345
Mob: 0417 125 700
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download PLoS Medicine research paper
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