Imperial College London
Alternate

Dr Dina Vlachou

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences

Advanced Research Fellow
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 1267d.vlachou Website

 
 
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Location

 

612Sir Alexander Fleming BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Ukegbu:2021:10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273,
author = {Ukegbu, CV and Christophides, GK and Vlachou, D},
doi = {10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273},
journal = {Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology},
pages = {1--17},
title = {Identification of three novel plasmodium factors involved in ookinete to oocyst developmental transition},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273},
volume = {11},
year = {2021}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a major cause of global morbidity and mortality, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. The numbers of new malaria cases and deaths have been stable in the last years despite intense efforts for disease elimination, highlighting the need for new approaches to stop disease transmission. Further understanding of the parasite transmission biology could provide a framework for the development of such approaches. We phenotypically and functionally characterized three novel genes, PIMMS01, PIMMS57, and PIMMS22, using targeted disruption of their orthologs in the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei. PIMMS01 and PIMMS57 are specifically and highly expressed in ookinetes, while PIMMS22 transcription starts already in gametocytes and peaks in sporozoites. All three genes show strong phenotypes associated with the ookinete to oocyst transition, as their disruption leads to very low numbers of oocysts and complete abolishment of transmission. PIMMS22 has a secondary essential function in the oocyst. Our results enrich the molecular understanding of the parasite-vector interactions and identify PIMMS01, PIMMS57, and PIMMS22 as new targets of transmission blocking interventions.
AU  - Ukegbu,CV
AU  - Christophides,GK
AU  - Vlachou,D
DO  - 10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273
EP  - 17
PY  - 2021///
SN  - 2235-2988
SP  - 1
TI  - Identification of three novel plasmodium factors involved in ookinete to oocyst developmental transition
T2  - Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000634278500001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2021.634273/full
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/91678
VL  - 11
ER  -
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