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Enter ococcus f aecalis is an opportunistic pathogen that is frequently co-isolated with other microbes in wound infections. While E. faecalis can subvert the host immune response and promote the survival of other microbes via interbacterial synergy, little is known about the impact of E. faecalis -mediated immune suppression on co-infecting microbes. We hypothesized that E. faecalis can attenuate neutr ophil-mediated r esponses in mixed-species infection to pr omote survi v al of the co-infecting species. We found that neutr ophils control E. faecalis infection via phagocytosis, ROS production, and de gr anulation of azurophilic granules, but it does not trigger neutrophil extracellular trap formation (NETosis). However, E. faecalis attenuates Staphylococcus aureus -induced NETosis in pol ymicr obial infection by interfering with citrullination of histone, suggesting E. f aecalis can activel y suppr ess NETosis in neutrophils. Residual S. aureus -induced NETs that remain during co-infection do not impact E. faecalis, further suggesting that E. faecalis possess mechanisms to evade or survive NET-associated killing mec hanisms. E. f aecalis -driven reduction of NETosis corresponds with higher S. aur eus survi v al, indicating that this immunomodulating effect could be a risk factor in promoting the virulence polymicrobial infection. These findings highlight the complexity of the immune response to polymicrobial infections and suggest that attenuated pathogen-specific imm une r esponses contribute to pathogenesis in the mammalian host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising prevalence of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with continued malaria transmission, has resulted more patients dealing with both communicable and non-communicable diseases. We previously reported that travelers with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) infected with Plasmodium falciparum were three times more likely to develop severe malaria than non-diabetics. Here we explore the biological basis for this by testing blood from uninfected subjects with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, ex vivo, for their effects on parasite growth and rosetting (binding of infected erythrocytes to uninfected erythrocytes). Rosetting was associated with type 2 diabetes, blood glucose and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), while parasite growth was positively associated with blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), body mass index (BMI), fibrinogen and triglycerides. This study establishes a link between diabetes and malaria virulence assays, potentially explaining the protective effect of good glycemic control against severe malaria in subjects with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasmodium falciparum invasion into red blood cells (RBCs) is a complex process engaging proteins on the merozoite surface and those contained and sequentially released from the apical organelles (micronemes and rhoptries). Fundamental to invasion is the formation of a moving junction (MJ), a region of close apposition of the merozoite and the RBC plasma membranes, through which the merozoite draws itself before settling into a newly formed parasitophorous vacuole (PV). SURFIN4.2 was identified at the surface of the parasitized RBCs (pRBCs) but was also found apically associated with the merozoite. Using antibodies against the N-terminus of the protein we show the presence of SURFIN4.2 in the neck of the rhoptries, its secretion into the PV and shedding into the culture supernatant upon schizont rupture. Using immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry we describe here a novel protein complex we have named SURGE where SURFIN4.2 forms interacts with the rhoptry neck protein 4 (RON4) and the Glutamate Rich Protein (GLURP). The N-terminal cysteine-rich–domain (CRD) of SURFIN4.2 mediates binding to the RBC membrane and its interaction with RON4 suggests its involvement in the contact between the merozoite apex and the RBC at the MJ. Supporting this suggestion, we also found that polyclonal antibodies to the extracellular domain (including the CRD) of SURFIN4.2 partially inhibit merozoite invasion. We propose that the formation of the SURGE complex participates in the establishment of parasite infection within the PV and the RBCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on conducting clinical trials related to malaria in developing countries and presents a rights-duty framework for agreement between parties involved in clinical research. Topics discussed include imperfect obligations of providing healthcare by researchers, a trial by the Medical Research Council of Great Britain (MRC) for developing malaria vaccine, distinction between perfect and imperfect duties, moral obligations of researchers and rights of research participants.

Although resistance to chloroquine (CQ) has relegated it from modern chemotherapeutic strategies to treat Plasmodium falciparum malaria, new evidence suggests that higher doses of the drug may exert a different killing mechanism and offers this drug a new lease of life. Whereas the established antimalarial mechanisms of CQ are usually associated with nanomolar levels of the drug, micromolar levels of CQ trigger a distinct cell death pathway involving the permeabilization of the digestive vacuole of the parasite and a release of hydrolytic enzymes. In this paper, we propose that this pathway is a promising antimalarial strategy and suggest that revising the CQ treatment regimen may elevate blood drug levels to trigger this pathway without increasing the incidence of adverse reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The protozoan pathogens responsible for malaria are from the Plasmodium genus, with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax accounting for almost all clinical infections. With recent estimates of mortality exceeding 800,000 annually, malaria continues to take a terrible toll on lives and the early promises of medicine to eradicate the disease have yet to approach realization, in part due to the spread of drug resistant parasites. Recent reports of artemisinin-resistance have prompted renewed efforts to identify novel therapeutic options, and one such pathway being considered for antimalarial exploit is the parasite''s programmed cell death (PCD) pathway. In this mini-review, we will discuss the roles of the plasmodium mitochondria in cell death and as a target of antimalarial compounds, taking into account recent data suggesting that PCD pathways involving the mitochondria may be attractive antimalarial targets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Variable surface antigens of Plasmodium falciparum have been a major research focus since they facilitate parasite sequestration and give rise to deadly malaria complications. Coupled with its potential use as a vaccine candidate, the recent suggestion that the repetitive interspersed families of polypeptides (RIFINs) mediate blood group A rosetting and influence blood group distribution has raised the research profile of these adhesins. Nevertheless, detailed investigations into the functions of this highly diverse multigene family remain hampered by the limited number of validated reagents. In this study, we assess the specificities of three promising polyclonal anti-RIFIN antibodies that were IgG-purified from sera of immunized animals. Their epitope regions were mapped using a 175,000-peptide microarray holding overlapping peptides of the P. falciparum variable surface antigens. Through immunoblotting and immunofluorescence imaging, we show that different antibodies give varying results in different applications/assays. Finally, we authenticate the antibody-based detection of RIFINs in two previously uncharacterized non-rosetting parasite lines by identifying the dominant rif transcripts using RNA sequencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parasite proteins exported to the surface of Plasmodium falciparum -parasitized red blood cells (pRBCs) have a major role in severe malaria clinical manifestation, where pRBC cytoadhesion and rosetting processes have been strongly linked with microvascular sequestration while avoiding both spleen filtration and immune surveillance. The parasite-derived and pRBC surface-exposed PfEMP1 protein has been identified as one of the responsible elements for rosetting and, therefore, considered as a promising vaccine candidate for the generation of rosette-disrupting antibodies against severe malaria. However, the potential role of anti-rosetting antibodies as targeting molecules for the functionalization of antimalarial drug-loaded nanovectors has never been studied. Our manuscript presents a proof-of-concept study where the activity of an immunoliposomal vehicle with a dual performance capable of specifically recognizing and disrupting rosettes while simultaneously eliminating those pRBCs forming them has been assayed in vitro . A polyclonal antibody against the NTS-DBL1α N-terminal domain of a rosetting PfEMP1 variant has been selected as targeting molecule and lumefantrine as the antimalarial payload. After 30 min incubation with 2 μM encapsulated drug, a 70% growth inhibition for all parasitic forms in culture (IC50: 414 nM) and a reduction in ca. 60% of those pRBCs with a rosetting phenotype (IC50: 747 nM) were achieved. This immunoliposomal approach represents an innovative combination therapy for the improvement of severe malaria therapeutics having a broader spectrum of activity than either anti-rosetting antibodies or free drugs on their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report not only the convergent total synthesis of falcitidin, a natural inhibitor of falcipain-2 from myxobacterium Chitinophaga, but also its diversification into a new antimalarial class of N-acyl tetrapeptides (Acyl-His-Ile-Val-Pro-NH2). Despite the lack of whole-cell activity of falcitidin itself, our study led to the identification of a trifluoromethyl (CF3) analogue displaying sub-micromolar IC50 activity against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 in a standard blood-cell assay, but only when N-tritylated on its histidine (imidazole) residue. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The total syntheses of antimalarial agent Falcitidin (I) as well as related N-acyl analogues (II) are outlined and the efficiency of the latter compounds against chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 is tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]