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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 29, 2025

In Vitro Assay of Plasmodium-Infected Red Blood Cell Killing by Cytotoxic Lymphocytes

In Vitro Assay of Plasmodium-Infected Red Blood Cell Killing by Cytotoxic Lymphocytes

Published on: August 17, 2022

Malaria parasites do respond to heat.

Elisabet Tintó-Font¹, Alfred Cortés²

¹ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona 08036, Catalonia, Spain.

Trends in Parasitology

|March 18, 2022

Summary

Malaria parasites, Plasmodium spp., can adapt to environmental stress like heat through transcriptional changes. This heat shock response in Plasmodium falciparum involves a unique transcription factor, aiding parasite survival.

Keywords:

PfAP2-HS Plasmodium falciparum adaptation directed transcriptional response fever heat shock response

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Area of Science:

Parasitology
Molecular Biology
Genomics

Background:

The ability of malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp.) to adapt transcriptionally to environmental changes was previously debated.
Emerging evidence indicates Plasmodium can mount adaptive transcriptional responses to specific stresses, including metabolic changes and febrile temperatures.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the transcriptional response of Plasmodium falciparum to thermal stress.
To identify the regulatory mechanisms and key genes involved in the heat shock (HS) response in malaria parasites.

Main Methods:

Analysis of gene expression changes in Plasmodium falciparum under thermal stress conditions.
Identification and characterization of transcription factors regulating the HS response.

Main Results:

Plasmodium falciparum exhibits a protective transcriptional response to thermal stress, akin to other organisms.
This response is mediated by a transcription factor evolutionarily distinct from the conserved heat shock factor found in most eukaryotes.
Only a subset of genes showing altered expression during HS contributes significantly to parasite survival.

Conclusions:

Plasmodium parasites possess a sophisticated transcriptional regulatory system for environmental adaptation.
The unique transcription factor controlling the HS response in Plasmodium falciparum represents a potential target for antimalarial drug development.