At the IGTP TODAY
Plasmodium vivax and Exosome Research (PvREX)
Using a mouse model, the research team characterized the protein profile of small vesicles secreted by liver cells, where the latent form of the parasite hides.
The project, led by Hernando A del Portillo, is one of the 30 projects selected from over 600 proposals presented in the 2021 call. The "CaixaResearch" programme on Health Research has selected 30 new cutting-edge biomedical research projects in Spain and Portugal, including the one led by Hernando A del Portillo, ICREA researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and co-affiliated with the Germans Trias i Pujol Institute (IGTP).
The Plasmodium vivax and Exosome Research Group (PVREX) has worked closely with the Cytometry Core Facility of the IGTP to use multiparameter cytometry combined with cell purification techniques to study the complex cell populations in the human spleen. The study published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology also looked at the interactions extracellular vesicles taken from plasma from patients with Plasmodium vivax infections, a parasite which causes malaria, and the different types of spleen cells. This is the first time this type of study has been done using spleen samples from donors.
The new studies change the accepted facts about the biology of Plasmodium vivax, a parasite that causes an often chronic and sometimes fatal form of malaria. The work focuses on the spleen, which has been thought to be the organ that cleared malaria parasites from the blood; the new data shows that in fact it is a reservoir and nursery for the parasite. This work can explain why malaria caused by P. vivax can have a latent liver form responsible for clinical relapses together with intrasplenic parasites likely responsible for chronic asymptomatic infections, thus providing new avenues for alternative control strategies.
Three groups from the IGTP have collaborated on a study of the parasite Plasmodium vivax with several Brazilian groups. The paper published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases provides proof of the presence of P. vivax in bone marrow during infections, something which has been controversial until now. They also showed that it disrupts normal red blood cell production, as well as altering the immune response.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) that circulate in the blood of Chagas disease patients are a valuable tool to identify potential markers of therapeutic response, according to a study led by researchers at the ISGlobal, an institution supported by "la Caixa", and the IGTP. With this strategy, the research team identified for the first time a series of proteins, including one from the parasite, that could serve to assess the response to existing or new treatments
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a role in the pathogenesis of malaria vivax, according to a study led by researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by "la Caixa", and the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP). The study was carried out at the Can Ruti Campus with the participation of the Genomics Facility of the IGTP, the Nephrology Service of the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital and researchers from the AIDS Research Institute, IrsiCaixa. The findings, published in Nature Communications, indicate that EVs from P. vivax patients communicate with spleen fibroblasts promoting the adhesion of parasite-infected red blood cells. These data provide important insights into the pathology of vivax malaria.
The malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax can adhere to human spleen cells through the expression of so-called variant proteins. These are the conclusions of a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by "la Caixa" and the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP). The results, published in PNAS, suggest that this could represent an additional challenge to eliminating the disease.
The funds collected in the 2017 edition of "La Marathon de TV3" and "Catalunya Ràdio" fundraiser will pay for 36 top-ranked biomedical research projects on infectious diseases with the aim of creating new tools for diagnostics and prevention and more efficient treatments to provide more years of quality life for patients. The 55 researchers who will carry out the research received their certificates today in an event that took place on Tuesday in the Catalan and Balearic Island Academy of Medical Sciences and Health. Two of these projects will be carried out at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) on the Can Ruti Campus.
A novel study indicates promising avenues in an innovative approach for developing a vaccine against Plasmodium vivax, the most prevalent human malaria parasite outside sub-Saharan Africa. The study indicates the possibility of using small vesicles (or exosomes) secreted by immature red blood cells as a vaccine platform against malaria. The paper was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
