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Updated: Jul 31, 2025

Author Spotlight: Exploring Heat Shock Proteins in Malaria and Tuberculosis Infections
Published on: March 8, 2024
Heat-shock responses: systemic and essential ways of malaria parasite survival
Camilla V Pires1, Jyotsna Chawla2, Caroline Simmons2
1Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States.
Abstract:
Fever is a part of the human innate immune response that contributes to limiting microbial growth and development in many infectious diseases. For the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, survival of febrile temperatures is crucial for its successful propagation in human populations as well as a fundamental aspect of malaria pathogenesis. This review discusses recent insights into the biological complexity of the malaria parasite's heat-shock response, which involves many cellular compartments and essential metabolic processes to alleviate oxidative stress and accumulation of damaged and unfolded proteins. We highlight the overlap between heat-shock and artemisinin resistance responses, while also explaining how the malaria parasite adapts its fever response to fight artemisinin treatment. Additionally, we discuss how this systemic and essential fight for survival can also contribute to parasite transmission to mosquitoes.
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