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Malarial liver parasites awaken in culture

Nature Medicine volume 20, pages 237–239 (2014)Cite this article

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The cure and elimination of malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax is hindered by the threat of relapse infections from undetectable dormant forms of the parasite in the liver. In a new breakthrough, using a related parasite, Plasmodium cynomolgi, it has been shown that the small nongrowing forms of the parasite, termed hypnozoites, can be reactivated in primary simian hepatocytes that have been infected and maintained in culture for 40 days, providing a system to study this parasite form with the development of potential new antihypnozoite drugs in mind (pages 307–312).

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Figure 1: Growth and development of P. cynomolgi or P. vivax.

Marina Corral Spence

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, John W. Barnwell is in the Malaria Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.,

    John W Barnwell

  2. Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Mary R. Galinski is at the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.,

    Mary R Galinski

Authors
  1. John W Barnwell
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  2. Mary R Galinski
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Correspondence to John W Barnwell or Mary R Galinski.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Barnwell, J., Galinski, M. Malarial liver parasites awaken in culture. Nat Med 20, 237–239 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3498

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