In the fight against malaria, cancer drugs are far from being considered a useful tool. But new research at Seattle BioMed reveals that liver cells, which are first infected by Plasmodium parasites after their transmission by mosquito bite, actually behave in similar ways to cancer cells. The work also shows that with the help of cancer drugs, the liver can become a hostile environment for the malaria parasite. This exciting new development is published in this month’s issue of the journal Cell Reports.
Humans get malaria by bites from mosquitoes that carry Plasmodium parasites, the most deadly of which is P. falciparum. In malaria research, mouse malaria parasites are frequently used because, like human parasites, they have a “liver phase,” in which the parasite first multiplies in the liver and then breaks out into the blood stream to cause disease. “We knew the malaria parasite goes…
