Cellular Microbiology (2014) 16(5), 599–601
doi:10.1111/cmi.12295
Editorial Biology of the Malaria Parasite – editorial on the special issue for the 10th BioMalPar conference Freddy Frischknecht,1 Maria Mota,2 Artur Scherf3 and Andy Waters4 1 Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Medical School, Heidelberg, Germany. 2 Malaria Unit, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. 3 Unité de Biologie des Interactions Hôte-Parasite, Département de Parasitologie et Mycologie, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. 4 Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Considering the rapid advancement of the biomedical sciences, the molecular and cellular biology of most host–parasite interactions remains still largely enigmatic. Some of the best understood parasites are those that cause malaria, one of the leading causes of death from infectious diseases throughout human history and still today. This special issue on malaria testifies how much progress has been made, but also shows how much more remains to be discovered. Not only do we lack a proven rationale for a cheap vaccine, but there are still many open questions about the most basic processes of malaria parasite biology and how the parasite interacts with its hosts. This leaves plenty of scope for new and fundamental discoveries that would gain immensely from attracting scientists from other fields and funding agencies alike. This issue celebrates the international effort that aims to understand the molecular and cellular biology of the malaria parasite. This effort has benefited tremendously from two consecutive European Union research networks, BioMalPar and EVIMalaR that have spanned the last decade of research (Waters, 2013). Within these networks over 80 laboratories from Europe, Africa, India and Australia joint together to achieve more and faster progress than could have been done by individual efforts. Research focused on different areas such as
molecular cell biology, immunology, systems and vector biology. The created networks have fostered a spirit of collaboration and have led to several dozens of young researchers conducting their doctoral and postdoctoral studies on malaria. Some of the new findings that emerged from this research are vigorously discussed at conferences such as the BioMalPar conference, which is being held for the 10th time this year at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. We are convinced that both, the international collaborative effort and the BioMalPar conference series will continue in the future. This special issue is thus also a tribute to the many researchers that have not only worked hard and openly exchanged their ideas and findings on sometimes very competitive issues but also to those that provided for the future by inspiring and training the next generation of researchers. Within these pages you will find a showcase of international work with contributions from colleagues in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia but an ominous absence of contributions from Africa, where malaria causes most deaths. This single fact highlights the ongoing and urgent need for stronger research capacity building right where it is most needed. There are myriad interactions between the malaria parasite and its different host cells and tissues and no special issue would be able to even attempt to portrait them all. Nevertheless, the selection of review and primary research presented here give a good overview of the divergence of research topics in malaria research and hence the scope of the problem. This research has always benefited from the use of model organisms from the discovery of parasite transmission by Ronald Ross using birds and the discovery of the liver stages using monkeys as well as the use of mice for early vaccine studies in the late 1960s. Therefore, a timely review examines the success and promise of humanized rodent models for the study of malaria infection (Kaushansky et al.). Similar to animal models the cultivation of a parasite in cell culture is necessary to advance our understanding of its molecular biology. This is highlighted by another review focusing on how Plasmodium knowlesi, a parasite mainly infecting
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
cellular microbiology
600 F. Frischknecht, M. Mota, A. Scherf and A. Waters
Excerpt from the comic ‘Malaria – the battle against a microscopic killer’. Comic written and created by Jamie Hall and Edward Ross, cover designed by Luke Pearson and colouring by Tom Humberstone. This comic is funded by the European Commission FP7 Network of Excellence EVIMalaR © 2012.
monkeys but also deadly for humans, can be cultivated (Grüring et al.). To understand the pathology of parasite host interaction the first contact is often of great importance. This is mediated by proteins on the parasite surface that can interact with proteins on the host cell. How these specific proteins help to attach parasites to their host cells is thus the topic of a third review (Malpede and Tolia). Malaria parasites are ancient organisms and thus feature organelles that seem alien to students of metazoan biology. To this end a fourth review (Harding and Meissner) describes one such essential organelle that defines malaria parasites and related organisms. The primary research reported in this special issue touches almost all parts of the malaria parasite life cycle. Starting from the bite of the mosquito, which delivers Plasmodium sporozoites into the skin (Carey et al.), the development in the liver (Austin et al.) to the invasion of merozoites into red blood cells (Knüpfer et al.; Yap et al.),
the trafficking within and adherence of the infected red blood cells to the vasculature (Brugat et al., Esser et al. and Siau et al.), the escape of the parasites from the red blood cell (Wirth et al.), the penetration of the mosquito gut wall by ookinetes (Kan et al.) and the conversion of these into cysts where new sporozoites are formed (Andreadaki et al.). EVIMalaR is not only about academic research and training but also about reaching out to the public to generate awareness about a disease that has been vanquished in the rich world but still causes havoc in resource poor countries of the tropics. One such effort has been to produce a comic book targeting children and non-expert adult readers alike that is available in many languages at http://www.malariacomic.com. One of the artists (Edward Ross) also drew the cartoon featuring the front cover of this special issue, for which we thank him. We are also grateful to the Cellular Microbi© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Cellular Microbiology, 16, 599–601
Editorial ology team, especially Andrea Lewis and David Sibley for making this special issue possible as well as to EVIMalaR and Heidelberg University for covering part of the printing costs.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Cellular Microbiology, 16, 599–601
601
Reference Waters, A.P. (2013) EVIMalaR – a model for international cooperation in scientific research. Nat Rev Microbiol 11: 505–506.
doi:10.1111/cmi.12295
Editorial Biology of the Malaria Parasite – editorial on the special issue for the 10th BioMalPar conference Freddy Frischknecht,1 Maria Mota,2 Artur Scherf3 and Andy Waters4 1 Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Medical School, Heidelberg, Germany. 2 Malaria Unit, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. 3 Unité de Biologie des Interactions Hôte-Parasite, Département de Parasitologie et Mycologie, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. 4 Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Considering the rapid advancement of the biomedical sciences, the molecular and cellular biology of most host–parasite interactions remains still largely enigmatic. Some of the best understood parasites are those that cause malaria, one of the leading causes of death from infectious diseases throughout human history and still today. This special issue on malaria testifies how much progress has been made, but also shows how much more remains to be discovered. Not only do we lack a proven rationale for a cheap vaccine, but there are still many open questions about the most basic processes of malaria parasite biology and how the parasite interacts with its hosts. This leaves plenty of scope for new and fundamental discoveries that would gain immensely from attracting scientists from other fields and funding agencies alike. This issue celebrates the international effort that aims to understand the molecular and cellular biology of the malaria parasite. This effort has benefited tremendously from two consecutive European Union research networks, BioMalPar and EVIMalaR that have spanned the last decade of research (Waters, 2013). Within these networks over 80 laboratories from Europe, Africa, India and Australia joint together to achieve more and faster progress than could have been done by individual efforts. Research focused on different areas such as
molecular cell biology, immunology, systems and vector biology. The created networks have fostered a spirit of collaboration and have led to several dozens of young researchers conducting their doctoral and postdoctoral studies on malaria. Some of the new findings that emerged from this research are vigorously discussed at conferences such as the BioMalPar conference, which is being held for the 10th time this year at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. We are convinced that both, the international collaborative effort and the BioMalPar conference series will continue in the future. This special issue is thus also a tribute to the many researchers that have not only worked hard and openly exchanged their ideas and findings on sometimes very competitive issues but also to those that provided for the future by inspiring and training the next generation of researchers. Within these pages you will find a showcase of international work with contributions from colleagues in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia but an ominous absence of contributions from Africa, where malaria causes most deaths. This single fact highlights the ongoing and urgent need for stronger research capacity building right where it is most needed. There are myriad interactions between the malaria parasite and its different host cells and tissues and no special issue would be able to even attempt to portrait them all. Nevertheless, the selection of review and primary research presented here give a good overview of the divergence of research topics in malaria research and hence the scope of the problem. This research has always benefited from the use of model organisms from the discovery of parasite transmission by Ronald Ross using birds and the discovery of the liver stages using monkeys as well as the use of mice for early vaccine studies in the late 1960s. Therefore, a timely review examines the success and promise of humanized rodent models for the study of malaria infection (Kaushansky et al.). Similar to animal models the cultivation of a parasite in cell culture is necessary to advance our understanding of its molecular biology. This is highlighted by another review focusing on how Plasmodium knowlesi, a parasite mainly infecting
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
cellular microbiology
600 F. Frischknecht, M. Mota, A. Scherf and A. Waters
Excerpt from the comic ‘Malaria – the battle against a microscopic killer’. Comic written and created by Jamie Hall and Edward Ross, cover designed by Luke Pearson and colouring by Tom Humberstone. This comic is funded by the European Commission FP7 Network of Excellence EVIMalaR © 2012.
monkeys but also deadly for humans, can be cultivated (Grüring et al.). To understand the pathology of parasite host interaction the first contact is often of great importance. This is mediated by proteins on the parasite surface that can interact with proteins on the host cell. How these specific proteins help to attach parasites to their host cells is thus the topic of a third review (Malpede and Tolia). Malaria parasites are ancient organisms and thus feature organelles that seem alien to students of metazoan biology. To this end a fourth review (Harding and Meissner) describes one such essential organelle that defines malaria parasites and related organisms. The primary research reported in this special issue touches almost all parts of the malaria parasite life cycle. Starting from the bite of the mosquito, which delivers Plasmodium sporozoites into the skin (Carey et al.), the development in the liver (Austin et al.) to the invasion of merozoites into red blood cells (Knüpfer et al.; Yap et al.),
the trafficking within and adherence of the infected red blood cells to the vasculature (Brugat et al., Esser et al. and Siau et al.), the escape of the parasites from the red blood cell (Wirth et al.), the penetration of the mosquito gut wall by ookinetes (Kan et al.) and the conversion of these into cysts where new sporozoites are formed (Andreadaki et al.). EVIMalaR is not only about academic research and training but also about reaching out to the public to generate awareness about a disease that has been vanquished in the rich world but still causes havoc in resource poor countries of the tropics. One such effort has been to produce a comic book targeting children and non-expert adult readers alike that is available in many languages at http://www.malariacomic.com. One of the artists (Edward Ross) also drew the cartoon featuring the front cover of this special issue, for which we thank him. We are also grateful to the Cellular Microbi© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Cellular Microbiology, 16, 599–601
Editorial ology team, especially Andrea Lewis and David Sibley for making this special issue possible as well as to EVIMalaR and Heidelberg University for covering part of the printing costs.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Cellular Microbiology, 16, 599–601
601
Reference Waters, A.P. (2013) EVIMalaR – a model for international cooperation in scientific research. Nat Rev Microbiol 11: 505–506.
