Fernandez-Becerra Carmen, Yamamoto Marcio M, Vêncio Ricardo Z N, Lacerda Marcus, Rosanas-Urgell Anna, del Portillo Hernando A
Barcelona Centre for International Health Research, Hospital Clinic/IDIBAPS, Universitat de Barcelona, Rosello 132, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Trends Parasitol. 2009 Jan;25(1):44-51. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2008.09.012. Epub 2008 Nov 25.
Plasmodium vivax is responsible for more than 100 million clinical cases yearly. Unlike P. falciparum, in which infected red blood cells cytoadhere via variant proteins, avoiding passage through the spleen, P.-vivax-infected reticulocytes seem not to cytoadhere. However, a variant subtelomeric multigene vir family has been identified in P. vivax. Thus, questions remain about how P. vivax circulates through the spleen and the role of Vir proteins. In this review, the importance of the vir multigene superfamily is reviewed in the light of the completion of the entire genome sequence of P. vivax and from data gathered from experimental infections in reticulocyte-prone non-lethal malaria parasites and natural P. vivax infections.
间日疟原虫每年导致超过1亿例临床病例。与恶性疟原虫不同，感染恶性疟原虫的红细胞通过变异蛋白进行细胞黏附，从而避免通过脾脏，而感染间日疟原虫的网织红细胞似乎不会进行细胞黏附。然而，已在间日疟原虫中鉴定出一个变异的端粒多基因vir家族。因此，关于间日疟原虫如何在脾脏中循环以及Vir蛋白的作用仍存在疑问。在本综述中，根据间日疟原虫全基因组序列的完成情况以及从易感染网织红细胞的非致死性疟原虫实验感染和间日疟原虫自然感染收集的数据，对vir多基因超家族的重要性进行了综述。
