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BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Cowman received his Ph.D. in parasitology from the University of
Melbourne. As a C.J. Martin Fellow of the National Health and Medical
Research Council, he pursued postdoctoral research training in
molecular genetics at the University of California, Berkeley. He
returned to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research,
where he had done his undergraduate work, as a Senior Research Officer,
and became a Wellcome Australian Senior Research Fellow in 1988. For
his work on Plasmodium falciparum, Dr. Cowman is the recipient
many awards; among them are the 1990 Burnet Prize, the 1992 Glaxo Award
for Advanced Research in Infectious Diseases, the 1993 Gottschalk Medal
for Medical Science and Biology of the Australian Academy of Sciences,
the 1994 Boehringer-Mannheim Medal, the 2001 Royal Society of Victoria
Research Medal, the Centenary Medal from the Governor-General of
Australia, and election to the Australian Academy of Science. Dr.
Cowman is currently a Principal Research Fellow in the Division of
Infection and Immunity at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of
Medical Research. He was first named an HHMI International Research
Scholar in 1992.
RESEARCH ABSTRACT SUMMARY:
The Role of Ligands in Sialic Acid–Dependent and –Independent
Invasion of Plasmodium falciparum Into Human Erythrocytes
The members of the phylum Apicomplexa parasitize a wide range of
eukaryotic host cells. In contrast, Plasmodium falciparum
invades human erythrocytes using several specific and high-affinity
ligand-receptor interactions that define invasion pathways. This
includes members of the Duffy-binding–like and the
reticulocyte-binding–like (RBL or Rh) family of proteins. PfRh1,
PfRh2a, PfRh2b, and PfRh4, members of the PfRh protein family, are
variantly expressed in different lines. In contrast, the
erythrocyte-binding antigen-175 (EBA-175), a ligand that binds to
glycophorin A in a sialic acid–dependent manner, is expressed in all
parasite lines examined so far. Different parasite strains appear to be
more reliant on specific ligands such that some are dependent on sialic
acid for invasion of erythrocytes whereas others are sialic
acid–independent. To understand the function of ligands in the pattern
of receptor utilization in merozoite invasion of human erythrocytes, we
have used a combination of targeted gene disruption and functional
analysis. This has provided important insights into the functional
relationships between the different ligands and their receptors.
Photo: Kent Kallberg, Kallberg Studios
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