PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Malaria's key to the liver uncovered

Malaria's key to the liver uncovered
2015-07-27
(Press-News.org) Scientists uncover a port of liver entry for malaria parasites in a report published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. If these results hold up in humans, drugs that target this entry protein might help prevent the spread of disease.

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium falciparum, which is transmitted to humans via mosquito bite. Recent efforts to limit parasite transmission and increase treatment coverage has reduced the number of malaria-related deaths, but the parasite still causes roughly 200 million new infections and half a million deaths worldwide each year.

The first stop for malaria parasites in humans is the liver, where a few organisms multiply into tens of thousands, which are then released into the bloodstream. Passage through the liver is essential for the parasite to establish a productive infection and cause disease, and the bug's entry route has been traced to specialized liver cells called Kupffer cells. But exactly how the parasite traverses these cells is not clear.

A team of scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health now find that a Kupffer cell protein called CD68 is needed for parasite passage and efficient liver infection, as mice lacking CD68 had 70% fewer parasites in their livers compared to intact animals. If this reduction is sufficient to substantially limit blood infections (and thus disease), CD68 may represent a potential new drug target in the fight against malaria.

INFORMATION:

Cha, S.-J., et al. 2015. J. Exp. Med. doi:10.1084/jem.20110575

About The Journal of Experimental Medicine The Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM) is published by The Rockefeller University Press. All editorial decisions on manuscripts submitted are made by research-active scientists in conjunction with our in-house scientific editors. JEM provides free online access to many article types immediately, with complete archival content freely available online since the journal's inception. Authors retain copyright of their published works and third parties may reuse the content for noncommercial purposes under a creative commons license. For more information, please visit http://www.jem.org .


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Malaria's key to the liver uncovered

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Small genetic differences could spell life-and-death for gut infections

2015-07-27
Considering how many microorganisms we ingest each day, our gut has an extensive and well-developed immune system. This defense is involved in acute and chronic gut diseases, but it varies dramatically among people. A persistent question is how our genetic make-up affects our gut's ability to fight infections. EPFL scientists have found that gut immunity is not affected by single genes but by entire groups of genes. The study, which challenges simplistic views of gut disease, is published in Nature Communications. That gut feeling A healthy gut contains a multitude ...

Babies' brains show that social skills linked to second language learning

2015-07-27
Babies learn language best by interacting with people rather than passively through a video or audio recording. But it's been unclear what aspects of social interactions make them so important for learning. New findings by researchers at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington demonstrate for the first time that an early social behavior called gaze shifting is linked to infants' ability to learn new language sounds. Babies about 10 months old who engaged in more gaze shifting during sessions with a foreign language tutor ...

Twin volcanic chains above a single hotspot with distinct roots

2015-07-27
Located in the South Atlantic, thousands of kilometers away from the nearest populated country, Tristan da Cunha is one of the remotest inhabited islands on earth. Together with the uninhabited neighboring island of Gough about 400 kilometers away, it is part of the British Overseas Territories. Both islands are active volcanoes, derived from the same volcanic hotspot. A team of marine scientists and volcanologists from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, from the University of Kiel and the University of London discovered that about 70 million years ago, ...

Increased protein turnover contributes to the development of pulmonary fibrosis

2015-07-27
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a very aggressive form of pulmonary fibrosis and has a particularly poor prognosis. This fatal disease, for which so far no causal therapies exist, is characterized by a massive deposition of connective and scar tissue in the lung, which leads to a progressive loss of lung function and ultimately death. Connective tissue is mainly produced by myofibroblasts. The research group led by PD Dr. Silke Meiners of the Institute of Lung Biology and the CPC showed now for the first time that the activation of these myofibroblasts depends on increased ...

A way to predict whether children with DiGeorge syndrome will develop autism or psychosis

2015-07-27
Doctors and researchers have long known that children who are missing about 60 genes on a certain chromosome are at a significantly elevated risk for developing either a disorder on the autism spectrum or psychosis -- that is, any mental disorder characterized by delusions and hallucinations, including schizophrenia. But there has been no way to predict which child with the abnormality might be at risk for which disorder. New findings by researchers at UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh are the first to suggest a potential way to make that determination. In a study ...

Low-dose lithium reduces side effects from most common treatment for Parkinson's disease

2015-07-27
Low-dose lithium reduced involuntary motor movements - the troubling side effect of the medication most commonly used to treat Parkinson's disease (PD) - in a mouse model of the condition that is diagnosed in about 60,000 Americans each year. The third in a series of studies from the Andersen lab involving PD and low-dose lithium, the results add to mounting evidence that low-doses of the psychotropic drug could benefit patients suffering from the incurable, degenerative condition. This study, published online in Brain Research, involved Parkinsonian mice that were given ...

Study finds non-genetic cancer mechanism

2015-07-27
Cancer can be caused solely by protein imbalances within cells, a study of ovarian cancer has found. The discovery is a major breakthrough because, until now, genetic aberrations have been seen as the main cause of almost all cancer. The research, published today in the journal Oncogene, demonstrates that protein imbalance is a powerful prognostic tool, indicating whether or not patients are likely to respond to chemotherapy and whether a tumour is likely to spread to other sites. The findings also open the possibility of new therapies aimed at measuring and preventing ...

Many young cancer patients may have limited awareness of fertility preservation options

2015-07-27
A new study points to the need for increased awareness of fertility preservation options for young patients with cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study found that factors such as gender, education, and insurance status may impact whether patients and their physicians have discussions and take actions to preserve fertility during cancer treatment. Cancer and the therapies used to treat it can cause some patients to become infertile. Therefore, it's important for clinicians and young cancer patients to ...

Many new mothers report no physician advice on infant sleep position, breastfeeding

Many new mothers report no physician advice on infant sleep position, breastfeeding
2015-07-27
This news release is available in Spanish. Many new mothers do not receive advice from physicians on aspects of infant care such as sleep position, breastfeeding, immunization and pacifier use, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Health care practitioner groups have issued recommendations and guidelines on all these aspects of infant care, based on research which has found that certain practices can prevent disease and even save lives. The study authors surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 1,000 new mothers, ...

Why Alfred Hitchcock grabs your attention

2015-07-27
The movies of Alfred Hitchcock have made palms sweat and pulses race for more than 65 years. Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have now learned how the Master of Suspense affects audiences' brains. Their study measured brain activity while people watched clips from Hitchcock and other suspenseful films. During high suspense moments, the brain narrows what people see and focuses their attention on the story. During less suspenseful moments of the film clips, viewers devote more attention to their surroundings. "Many people have a feeling that we get lost in ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] Malaria's key to the liver uncovered