MicroRNA in Malaria

Abstract

© 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Severe malaria, caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum, remains a major health problem worldwide. The disease presents with a clinical spectrum ranging from asymptomatic disease to severe and fatal malaria, complicated by a range of syndromes such as coma, severe anemia, and end-organ failure. The parasite undergoes a complex life cycle in the mosquito vector and human host, with extensive transcriptional changes accompanying cyclical development through distinct morphological forms. Investigation of microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential regulators of parasite development has so far failed to reveal their presence in Plasmodium itself. However, recent studies of host pathophysiology indicate changes to miRNA signatures in both murine models of disease and human patients, associated with specific complications of severe malarial disease, such as the coma of cerebral malaria and renal failure. In addition, recent data imply that host miRNA may translocate into the parasite from the infected erythrocyte altering parasite gene transcription. This chapter will summarize the fledgling studies of miRNA in malaria and its potential for identifying significant pathways of host disease, which could represent targets for adjuvant therapy.