NEW DATE - CryoEM Seminar @ ITQB NOVA - Helen Saibil

IMpaCT project is happy to announce a new date for our  Cryo-EM seminar with our expert guest, Helen Saibil. 

Due to the current limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic the seminar will be held as a webinar. 

Please note the new date and time:

October 21th, at 2pm (PT time)

Webinar link

We look forward to see you at our webinar,

IMpaCT coordination team

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Erythrocyte membrane remodelling and destruction by malaria parasites

Helen Saibil

Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology,

Birkbeck College London

In the clinical phase of malaria infection, the parasite cells (merozoites) invade their host erythrocytes and create an intracellular vacuole, inside which they replicate. In addition, they modify the erythrocyte membrane to create sites of adhesion to endothelia, the cause of severe clinical disease in P. falciparum cases. When the daughter parasites are mature, after about 48 h, they need to break through both vacuole and erythrocyte membranes in order to invade new erythrocytes. The process by which they escape ("egress") is a highly ordered sequence of secretion, activation and proteolytic events, culminating in explosive release of the new parasites for the next round of infection.

We have used video microscopy, electron and X-ray tomography along with mutants and pharmacological blockers of different steps in egress, to study membrane disruption and breakage during the process of egress.

This work has revealed new steps in egress and an unexpected role for the major merozoite surface complex MSP1.