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  How does malaria-causing parasite infect human red blood cells?

  Gargi Deshmukh

  Researchers based at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, and Yenepoya University, Mangalore, have uncovered the crucial role of Protein kinase 2 (PfPK2) in malarial parasite development and invasion of host red blood cells, offering insights for potential therapeutic strategies. Depleting PfPK2 resulted in reduced invasion of host erythrocytes by the parasite and impaired its maturation in the host maturation, highlighting it as a promising target for new malaria drugs.
  

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  Structures provide the answer for the complement system

  Annapoorna P K

  In a recent collaborative study published in Cell, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, and other institutes have uncovered the molecular basis of complement receptor activation, crucial in immune response. The research team identified a synthetic peptide, EP141, derived from the C3a anaphylatoxin, which selectively binds to the C3aR receptor, offering therapeutic potential by directing biased immune signalling.