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Updated: Jan 12, 2026

Methods to Investigate the Regulatory Role of Small RNAs and Ribosomal Occupancy of Plasmodium falciparum
Published on: December 4, 2015
Seeing is believing-Plasmodium falciparum translation in action
Jessey Erath1, Slavica Pavlovic Djuranovic1
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
None:
In a recent issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Anton et al.1 produce the first in situ visualization of Plasmodium falciparum ribosomes within infected erythrocytes. Using cryoelectron tomography and cryoelectron microscopy, ten ribosomal states are resolved, five previously unseen in eukaryotes, providing a more comprehensive parasite translation elongation cycle. The work describes parasite-specific translation dynamics, showing how the antimalarial cabamiquine disrupts elongation.
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