Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program
BS, Microbiology
Shandong University, China (2002)

Email: hui.nie@drexel.edu

Advisor: Dr. Lawrence W. Bergman
 
Thesis Research Summary

Malaria parasite invasion involves the linkage between the host cell to be invaded and the actin-myosin motor of the parasite that drives invasion. In sporozoites, this function is completed by the Thrombospondin Related Anonymous Protein (TRAP), which links the liver cell to the actin-myosin motor via an indirect linkage requiring parasite aldolase. The analogous protein in merozoites, the invasive form of the blood stage of the life cycle, is not known. Using a bioinformatic approach, we have identified a candidate protein. Characterization of this protein and its role in invasion by both human and rodent forms of the parasite are now underway.