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Chronicle of a death foretold: Plasmodium liver stage parasites decide on the fate of the host cell

Graewe, Stefanie ; Stanway, Rebecca R. ; Rennenberg, Annika ; Heussler, Volker T.

In: FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 2012, vol. 36, no. 1, p. 111-130

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    Titre
    • Chronicle of a death foretold: Plasmodium liver stage parasites decide on the fate of the host cell
    Auteur
    • Graewe, Stefanie. Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
    • Stanway, Rebecca R.. Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern Bern, Switzerland
    • Rennenberg, Annika. Astra GmbH, Hamburg, Germany
    • Heussler, Volker T.. Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern Bern, Switzerland
    Type de document
    • Postprint
    Identifiant OAI-PMH
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:303405
    Summary
    Protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium are the causative agents of malaria. Despite more than 100years of research, the complex life cycle of the parasite still bears many surprises and it is safe to say that understanding the biology of the pathogen will keep scientists busy for many years to come. Malaria research has mainly concentrated on the pathological blood stage of Plasmodium parasites, leaving us with many questions concerning parasite development within the mosquito and during the exo-erythrocytic stage in the vertebrate host. After the discovery of the Plasmodium liver stage in the middle of the last century, it remained understudied for many years but the realization that it represents a promising target for vaccination approaches has brought it back into focus. The last decade saw many new and exciting discoveries concerning the exo-erythrocytic stage and in this review we will discuss the highlights of the latest developments in the field. During the last decade many surprising facts about exoerythrocytic development of Plasmodium parasites have been revealed and will be discussed