Epithelial homelessness: an atypical form of anoikis triggered by interaction with epithelial cells.

Leishmaniasis is characterized by a spectrum of diseases with two main clinical forms, cutaneous and visceral, caused by and , respectively. Studying 's interaction with the epithelial barrier at the initial site of a bite is crucial to understanding the establishment of the disease. To discern parasite-host epithelial interaction, we developed cellular models involving co-cultures of and MDCK epithelial cells Both -MDCK and -MDCK co-culture models demonstrated a phenomenon known as atypical anoikis apoptosis, typically identified by distinctive 'flipping in' of cell membranes and disordered cytoskeletal frameworks.

Characterization of Plasmodium falciparum prohibitins as novel targets to block infection in humans by impairing the growth and transmission of the parasite.

Prohibitins (PHBs) are highly conserved pleiotropic proteins as they have been shown to mediate key cellular functions. Here, we characterize PHBs encoding putative genes ofPlasmodium falciparum by exploiting different orthologous models. We demonstrated that PfPHB1 (PF3D7_0829200) and PfPHB2 (PF3D7_1014700) are expressed in asexual and sexual blood stages of the parasite.