Implicating extracellular vesicles in Plasmodium falciparum artemisinin resistance development

Kwesi Z. Tandoh, Michael D. Wilson, Neils B. Quashie, Nancy O. Duah-Quashie

Research output: Contribution to journalComment/debate

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a disease of significant public health impact today. With the risk of emerging artemisinin resistance stalling malaria control efforts, the need to deepen our understanding of the parasite's biology is dire. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are vital to the biology of P. falciparum and play a role in the pathogenesis of malaria. Recent studies have also shown that EVs may play a role in the development of artemisinin resistance in P. falciparum. Here, we highlight evidence on EVs in P. falciparum biology and malaria pathogenesis and argue that there is sufficient ground to propose a role for EVs in the development of P. falciparum artemisinin resistance. We suggest that EVs are actively secreted functional organelles that contribute to cellular homeostasis in P. falciparum-infected red blood cells under artemisinin pressure. Further exploration of this hypothesized EVs-based molecular mechanism of artemisinin resistance will aid the discovery of novel antimalarial therapies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)194-200
Number of pages7
JournalTraffic
Volume22
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • artemisinin drug resistance
  • cellular homeostasis
  • extracellular vesicles
  • malaria
  • parasite secretion system
  • Plasmodium falciparum

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