Study on the mechanism of Artemisinin resistance of Plasmodium falciparum K13 gene M579I

Malaria is one of the parasitic diseases which severely impairs humanity health. The discovery of artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum poses a great challenge to malaria control and elimination. It found that artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum was associated with the mutations of the K13 gene in Southeast area. However, no confirmed artemisinin resistance strain was found in Africa. Previous studies found that the resistance selective pressure in K13 gene in Equatorial Guinea is much higher than other countries in Africa, and the strain with M579I mutation in K13 gene displayed artemisinin resistance. Therefore, as the specific mutation M579I in Africa is possible associated with artemisinin resistance also. To confirm the targets of K13 and the affect of mutation M579I, the K13 will be over-expressed and silenced; Checking the development of the M579I mutation strain with artemisinin treatment, and the change of the related genes’ expression level, to verify the up-regulation of unfolded protein response (UPR) in artemisinin resistance, thereby provide new clues for the mechanism and monitoring of artemisinin resistance in P. falciparum.

Drug Resistance
Genetics and Genomics

Jan 2017 — Dec 2019

$25,148

China