In Part 2, Mota goes into more depth about the liver stage of malaria infection. She reminds us that when Plasmodium parasites are transferred by a mosquito bite, they first travel to the liver. Once inside of a hepatocyte, a single malaria parasite will replicate and give rise to over 10,000 new parasites that go on to infect red blood cells and cause disease. For many years, this stage was called the silent stage as it was thought that malaria parasites were not detected by the host while in the liver. Mota tells us about data from her lab, and others, showing that the host innate immune response is, indeed, activated during hepatocyte infection. This immune response may play a role in modulating the host’s response to the blood-stage infection or future re-infection.
View the full talk with additional resources on our website
Malaria and Malaria Parasites
Malaria kills about 500,000 people per year including many children. Dr. Maria Mota explains how better understanding the interactions between a host and the malaria parasite may help to prevent the disease and develop future treatments. (Talk recorded in July 2019)
- Part 1: Malaria: An OverviewAudience:
- General Public
- Student
- Researcher
- Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 00:38:44 - Part 2: Plasmodium Liver Stage Infection Activates Host Innate ImmunityAudience:
- Researcher
- Educators
- Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 00:23:36 - Part 3: Nutrient Sensing Modulates Malaria Parasite VirulenceAudience:
- Researcher
- Educators
- Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 00:30:38