Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 7
Plasmodium falciparum Neutral
Aminopeptidases: Development
of Novel Anti-Malarials by
Understanding Enzyme Structure
DONALD GARDINER,
a
JOHN DALTON
b, c
AND
SHEENA M
C
GOWAN*
d
a
Malaria Biology Laboratory, The Queensland Institute of Medical
Research, 300 Herston Rd, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland 4006, Australia;
b
Institute for the Biotechnology of Infectious Diseases (IBID), University of
Technology Sydney, Level 6, Building 4, Corner of Thomas and Harris
Street, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia;
c
Institute of Parasitology,
McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Sainte-Anne De Bellevue, QC
H9X 3V9, Canada;
d
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
7.1
Introduction
7.1.1 Falciparum Malaria: The Health Burden
Clinical malaria is caused by the transmission of an apicomplexan Plasmodium
parasite from one human to another via the bite of an infected Anopheles
mosquito. Five species of Plasmodium cause human malaria, but Plasmodium
falciparum (Pf ) is the most significant because it causes the most deaths, which
