Glycophorins, Blood Groups, and Protection from Severe Malaria

Samuel C Wassmer; Jane M Carlton

doi:10.1016/j.pt.2015.11.006

Glycophorins, Blood Groups, and Protection from Severe Malaria

Trends Parasitol. 2016 Jan;32(1):5-7. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2015.11.006. Epub 2015 Nov 21.

Authors

Samuel C Wassmer¹, Jane M Carlton²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Parasitology, Department of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10010. Electronic address: Samuel.Wassmer@nyumc.org.
² Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003.

Abstract

In Malaŵi, Malungo alibe odi is a saying that translates as: 'Malaria does not ask permission before coming in'. The recent finding of a new severe malaria resistance locus next to a cluster of glycophorin genes involved in Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte invasion seems to suggest otherwise: that evolutionary pressure is enabling erythrocytes to lock the door to keep malaria out.

Keywords: Plasmodium falciparum malaria; genome-wide association study.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics*
Genome-Wide Association Study*
Humans
Malaria, Falciparum / genetics*
Male
Selection, Genetic / genetics*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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