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Biotin: The role of a human vitamin in malaria parasites

Sean Prigge

 

Dr. Sean T. Prigge; Professor; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

March 16 at 12:20pm in the Fralin Auditorium, Fralin Hall room 102

Hosted by Dr. M. Klemba

 

Malaria parasites require certain host nutrients for growth and survival. In this project, we examined the role of the human vitamin biotin in all stages of the malaria life cycle. We cultured blood and liver stage malaria parasites in the absence of biotin, and found that while blood stage replication was unaffected, liver stage parasites deprived of biotin were no longer capable of establishing a blood stage infection. Interestingly, biotin depletion resulted in more severe developmental defects than the genetic disruption of parasite biotin metabolism. This finding suggests that host biotin metabolism also contributes to parasite development. Since neither the parasite nor the human host can synthesize biotin, parasite infectivity may be affected by the nutritional status of the host.

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Afanador 2014.pdf Redox-dependent lipoylation of mitochondrial proteins in Plasmodium falciparum
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Afanador 2017.pdf A novel lipoate attachment enzyme is shared by Plasmodium and Chlamydia species
Flyer

This seminar will be livestreamed here. The seminar will NOT be recorded.