ArticlePLoS biology2018
The Plasmodium falciparum transcriptome in severe malaria reveals altered expression of genes involved in important processes including surface antigen-encoding var genes.
Article in PLoS biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Meta-Analysis of Human Antibodies AgainstFrontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Safety, infectivity and immunogenicity of a genetically attenuated blood-stage malaria vaccine.BMC medicine · 2021Trial
- BLASE: bulk linkage analysis for single cell experiments - teasing out the secrets of bulk transcriptomics with trajectory analysis.BMC methods · 2026Article
- Benchmarking of real-time, field-deployable whole-genome sequencing ofMicrobial genomics · 2026Article
- Predictive value of PfEMP1 antibody profiles for the course of controlled human malaria infections.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Disruption of the AgMOBP1-PfSyn5 interface abolishes malaria transmission.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Integrative genomics ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Genome-wide analysis of strand-specific transcription and DNA methylation inFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- upsML: A high-accuracy machine learning classifier for predicting Plasmodium falciparum var gene upstream groups.PloS one · 2026Article
- Plasmodium falciparum gene expression signatures and antibody profiling implicate the fikk, phist, and surf multigene families in severe malaria syndromes.The Journal of infection · 2025Article
- Var genes, strain hyperdiversity, and malaria transmission dynamics.Trends in parasitology · 2025Review
- A paradoxical population structure of var DBLα types in Africa.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Breaking the bind: PfEMP1-specific antibodies in cerebral malaria.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Identification of novel PfEMP1 variants containing domain cassettes 11, 15 and 8 that mediate the Plasmodium falciparum virulence-associated rosetting phenotype.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- A systems serology approach to identifying key antibody correlates of protection from cerebral malaria in Malawian children.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- The malarial blood transcriptome: translational applications.Biochemical Society transactions · 2024Review
- Gene expression analyses reveal differences in children's response to malaria according to their age.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Comparative analysis of peripheral whole blood transcriptome from asymptomatic carriers reveals upregulation of subsets of surface proteins implicated inBiochemistry and biophysics reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Infected erythrocytes and plasma proteomics reveal a specific protein signature of severe malaria.EMBO molecular medicine · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Within the human host, the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is exposed to multiple selection pressures. The host environment changes dramatically in severe malaria, but the extent to which the parasite responds to-or is selected by-this environment remains unclear. From previous studies, the parasites that cause severe malaria appear to increase expression of a restricted but poorly defined subset of the PfEMP1 variant, surface antigens. PfEMP1s are major targets of protective immunity. Here, we used RNA sequencing (RNAseq) to analyse gene expression in 44 parasite isolates that caused severe and uncomplicated malaria in Papuan patients. The transcriptomes of 19 parasite isolates associated with severe malaria indicated that these parasites had decreased glycolysis without activation of compensatory pathways; altered chromatin structure and probably transcriptional regulation through decreased histone methylation; reduced surface expression of PfEMP1; and down-regulated expression of multiple chaperone proteins. Our RNAseq also identified novel associations between disease severity and PfEMP1 transcripts, domains, and smaller sequence segments and also confirmed all previously reported associations between expressed PfEMP1 sequences and severe disease. These findings will inform efforts to identify vaccine targets for severe malaria and also indicate how parasites adapt to-or are selected by-the host environment in severe malaria.
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