Investigation of the Reasons for the Susceptibility of Schizogony as a Target for Chemotherapeutic Attack in Malaria Parasites

There is good evidence that the activity of the widely used antimalaria agent, pyrimethamine, against the intraerythrocytic stages of malaria parasites is directed towards one particular part of the cell cycle - schizogony. The objective of these investigations is to understand in molecular terms why and how the process of schizogony is susceptible to such chemotherapeutic attack. The authors have developed and characterised a rat-adapted, pyrimethamine-sensitive strain of Plasmodium chabaudi which grows with a high degree of synchrony in its intraerythrocytic cycle. An in vitro culture system for this strain has been worked out which supports not only growth from the ring to the schizont stage, but also some subsequent reinvasion. Preliminary studies with the electron microscope to complement the biochemical investigations have been initiated using these systems. (Modified author abstract)