NU 2007-138

Inventors

Kasturi Haldar*

Pamela Tamez

Souvik Bhattacharjee

Short Description

A new malarial protein that can be targeted to treat and prevent infections

Abstract

Northwestern researchers have identified a new malarial protein, named erythrocyte vesicle protein 1 (EVP1), which can be targeted for development of drugs and vaccines. Currently, there is no vaccine against malaria, and drugs are quickly rendered ineffective as the plasmodium mutates rapidly. EVP1 is expressed by the malaria parasite in the blood phase of the disease, during which all of the symptoms present. This highly conserved protein is known to be essential for importing the malaria parasite into red blood cells, so it is unlikely to acquire mutations over the course of infection. Importantly, this protein is not expressed in humans. Drugs targeting EVP1 would therefore have a decreased probability of causing side effects that are associated with standard anti-malarial therapies. Taken together, these factors make EVP1 a very attractive target for development of new therapeutics.

Applications

• Malaria vaccine and drug development

Advantages

• Low potential for toxicity to humans

Publications

Tamez PA, Bhattacharjee S, van Ooij C, Hiler NL, Llinas M, Balu B, Adams JH, Haldar K (2008) An Erythrocyte Vesicle Protein Exported by the Malaria Parasite Promotes Tubovesicular Lipid Import from the Host Cell Surface, PLOS Pathogens, 4(8).

IP Status

Issued US patent 8,465, 746