La investigación se ha centrado en identificar y bloquear el proceso por el cual los glóbulos rojos permiten la entrada en ellos de Plasmodium falciparum y no en este parásito en sí.
Consideran que su estrategia sería la forma más directa de controlar la infección y suprimir los síntomas. Los autores explican que P. falciparum utiliza las llamadas proteínas G para penetrar en los glóbulos rojos, pues se ha visto que una subunidad de la proteína G, llamada Gs, se concentra alrededor del parásito durante el proceso de infección de los hematíes.
Utilizando péptidos que inhiben la interacción de la proteína Gs, consiguieron en modelos de laboratorio bloquear la señal de esta proteína, lo que dio lugar una infección reducida. Posteriormente, comprobaron que utilizando bloqueadores beta podía prevenirse la entrada del parásito de la malaria en los glóbulos rojos. Por ello, creen que estos fármacos pueden servir para tratar la enfermedad y que, debido a que su diana es la célula huésped y no el parásito, las probabilidades de que este genere resistencias son menores.
Webs Relacionadas
Science
http://www.sciencemag.org/
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/
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