Plasmodium berghei HMGB1 controls the host immune responses and splenic clearance by regulating the expression of pir genes.

High mobility group box (HMGB) proteins belong to the high mobility group (HMG) superfamily of non-histone nuclear proteins that are involved in chromatin remodeling, regulation of gene expression, and DNA repair. When extracellular, HMGBs serve as alarmins inducing inflammation, and this is attributed to the proinflammatory activity of box B. Here, we show that Plasmodium HMGB1 has key amino acid changes in box B resulting in the loss of TNF-α stimulatory activity.

QbD-Based Stability-Indicating RP-HPLC Method Development and Validation for the Estimation of Favipiravir-An Eco-Friendly Approach.

Background: Analytical quality by design (AQbD) affords a systematic scaffolding to triumph a continuously validated, robust assay as well as life cycle management. The resuscitative repurposed drug favipiravir, an oral drug approved for reemerging pandemic influenza in Japan in 2014, is used for the treatment of life-threatening pathogens such as Ebola, Lassa virus, and currently COVID-19. Favipiravir is gaining a great deal of medical importance due to its pharmaceutical applications.

Recent progress and major gaps in the vaccine development for African swine fever.

The swine industry across the globe is recently facing a devastating situation imparted by a highly contagious and deadly viral disease, African swine fever. The disease is caused by a DNA virus, the African swine fever virus (ASFV) of the genus Asfivirus. ASFV affects both wild boars and domestic pigs resulting in an acute form of hemorrhagic fever.

Distinct evolution of type I glutamine synthetase in Plasmodium and its species-specific requirement.

Malaria parasite lacks canonical pathways for amino acid biosynthesis and depends primarily on hemoglobin degradation and extracellular resources for amino acids. Interestingly, a putative gene for glutamine synthetase (GS) is retained despite glutamine being an abundant amino acid in human and mosquito hosts. Here we show Plasmodium GS has evolved as a unique type I enzyme with distinct structural and regulatory properties to adapt to the asexual niche.

Significance of Plasmodium berghei Amino Acid Transporter 1 in Food Vacuole Functionality and Its Association with Cerebral Pathogenesis.

The food vacuole plays a central role in the blood stage of parasite development by digesting host hemoglobin acquired from red blood cells and detoxifying the host heme released during hemoglobin digestion into hemozoin. Blood-stage parasites undergo periodic schizont bursts, releasing food vacuoles containing hemozoin. Clinical studies in malaria-infected patients and animal studies have shown the association of hemozoin with disease pathogenesis and abnormal host immune responses in malaria.

Malaria parasite heme biosynthesis promotes and griseofulvin protects against cerebral malaria in mice.

Heme-biosynthetic pathway of malaria parasite is dispensable for asexual stages, but essential for mosquito and liver stages. Despite having backup mechanisms to acquire hemoglobin-heme, pathway intermediates and/or enzymes from the host, asexual parasites express heme pathway enzymes and synthesize heme. Here we show heme synthesized in asexual stages promotes cerebral pathogenesis by enhancing hemozoin formation.

Intestinal Type Adenocarcinoma from Inverted Papilloma: A Rare Recurrence.

Inverted Papilloma (IP) is an uncommon and locally aggressive benign tumour of sinonasal region, which tends to recur after surgical resection. Most tumours are confined to the lateral nasal wall and sinuses, with maxillary sinus being most commonly affected and a male preponderance. It has a known association with and invasive carcinomas with a <10% rate of malignant transformation.