The Rowe Malaria Lab
Institute of Immunology and Infection Research (IIIR),
School of Biological Sciences,
The University of Edinburgh,
United Kingdom.
Host-parasite interactions and life-threatening malaria.
Individual variation in disease symptoms is one of the unexplained features of malaria. Although more than one million children die from malaria every year, many more suffer milder, non-life-threatening forms of the disease. Despite decades of research, it is unclear to what extent this individual variation in disease severity is due to parasite factors, host factors, or a combination of the two. Our main interest lies in investigating the malaria parasite properties (virulence factors) and human genetic factors (malaria susceptibility genes) that contribute to life-threatening malaria. The importance of this work is that by gaining a greater understanding of the processes leading to severe disease, it may be possible to develop drugs or vaccines to prevent children dying from malaria.
The main focus of the lab is on rosetting, a parasite adhesion phenotype strongly associated with severe malaria in African children. We aim to understand the molecular mechanisms of rosette formation in order to develop rosette-inhibiting vaccines or drugs. In particular, we are studying the role of var genes in rosetting, and the potential for a var gene vaccine to inhibit rosetting. We are also investigating the link between var gene transcription and disease manifestation in field isolates from children in Mali and Kenya. Other potential P. falciparum virulence phenotypes under study include platelet-mediated clumping and cytoadhesion to brain endothelial cells. On the host side, we continue to study a red blood cell protein called complement receptor one that plays a crucial role in rosette formation. We are also investigating the role of host IgM natural antibodies in rosetting and malaria in pregnancy. In all our projects we aim to combine detailed in vitro investigation of laboratory parasite strains with studies on fresh clinical isolates in order to establish the relevance of our findings to malaria infections in the real world.