Professor Alister Craig
Reviews Editor for Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology
Chair in Molecular Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
One of the aspects of malaria biology that has been associated with severity of disease has been the ability of erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum to adhere to the endothelial cells lining the small blood vessels (and also within the placenta). Several endothelial receptors are able to mediate this binding, but studies on patient isolates have identified a subset of these are being important in the field. Our research has focussed on one of the major receptors, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and also uses live endothelium as a model of the interactions taking place in vivo, as recent studies have indicated that disease severity may be linked to the ability of parasites to adhere to multiple receptors. The group’s work has recently extended into an analysis of post-adhesive effects on both the parasite and the host endothelium.
A well as wishing to understand the molecular processes underpinning sequestration in malaria, we are also carrying out work on clinical correlation of specific types of adhesion with severe disease and the differential distribution of variant populations of parasites in the body due to receptor tropism. Our main goal is an understanding of the pathology of adhesion-based pathology in malaria and, thereby, the development of novel anti-disease therapeutics.