The Plasmodium pir gene family: chronic infection, immunity and virulence

Objectives

The main goal of this study is to discover the interactions of pirs with the mammalian host that could explain their role in virulence, or in other host parasite interactions by using a well-defined mouse malaria model .

Specific objectives of this study are to determine:

1. the pir gene repertoires from rodent parasites to determine how these families have evolved and the constraints upon them;
2. transcriptional profiles of cir genes during infection and in different life-cycle stages to determine whether the genes are differentially transcribed in an infection and in the presence of an immune response;
3. subcellular location of CIR proteins at different life-cycle stages, to determine which CIR are likely to interact directly with host molecules;
4. whether CIR proteins interact directly with host proteins; and
5. relationships between cir, host response, virulence and chronic infection to elucidate whether they play a direct role in virulence, activating or subverting immune responses.