Scientists discover chemical modification in human malaria parasite DNA
▻http://phys.org/news/2013-12-scientists-chemical-modification-human-malaria.html
Say “malaria” and most people think “mosquito,” but the buzzing, biting insect is merely the messenger, delivering the Plasmodium parasites that sickened more than 200 million people globally in 2010 and killed about 660,000. Worse, the parasite is showing resistance to artemisinin, the most effective drug for treating infected people.
Now University of California, Riverside researchers who are trying to understand the biology of the parasite have discovered a potential weakness—low levels of DNA methylation in Plasmodium’s genome “that may be critical to the survival of the parasite,” said Karine Le Roch, an associate professor of cell biology, who led the research.
DNA methylation is a biochemical process involving the modification of DNA that plays an important role in development and disease.
A paper about the findings of Le Roch and her team, titled “Genome-wide Mapping of the DNA Methylation in the Human Malaria Parasite,” appears in the December issue of the journal Cell Host & Microbe.
DNA methylation is a big deal in humans; it is so essential for normal development that abnormal DNA methylation patterns have been linked with many diseases, including cancers and neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Until now, the existence of DNA methylation in the Plasmodium parasite was disputable, Le Roch said. There were published contradicting studies that used old technology to search for methylation, but Le Roch’s team was able to confirm low levels of methylation using classical molecular approaches as well as new sequencing technology.