Malaria transmission is increasing due to insecticide resistance of the malaria-carrying mosquito, control programme failures, drug resistance of the malaria parasite and perhaps even global warming. Therefore, a greater understanding of the genetics and molecular biology of the parasite is urgently needed in order to develop novel chemotherapeutic and vaccine based control strategies. The research aims of this thesis were to study genes and proteins which regulate the development of the malaria parasite, <I>Plasmodium falciparum, </I>through its intra-erythrocytic life cycle. A <I>Plasmodium falciparum</I> homologue of one of the components of a Chromatin-Remodelling Complex which controls binding of transcription factors to nucleosome core particles has been cloned and characterised. This sequencing effort has been broadened into a genome data bank-based review of intons and promotor sequences in <I>Plasmodium falciparum. </I>Immunofluorescence microscopy also shows that the PfNF2L protein is expressed throughout the asexual stage of the cell cycle and is localised within nucleus. A proteolytic process and granular pattern on the infected red blood cell membrane is revealed by using anti-PfSNF2L polyclonal antibodies on western blotting and immunoflourescence assay. Biological experiments on the cell cycle of malaria parasite have also been carried out. Process through the cell cycle has been shown to be retarded by heat shock and blocked at certain specific cell stage by drugs known to block certain key cell cycle regulatory processes in other cells. The nature of the cell death process in cycle arrested cells has also been investigated and its role in apoptosis-like cell death in malaria cells has been investigated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:653010 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Ji, Dar-Der |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/12301 |
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