Var Genes and Pfemp-1 of Indonesian Plasmodium Falciparum: Characteristic, Diversity and Binding Capacity

Malaria is a global health problem with hundreds of million people around the world suffering from disease and estimated 1-3 millions deaths each year. There are five Plasmodium species causing malaria in humans: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae and P. knowlesi. Plasmodium falciparum causes the most severe clinical symptoms and mainly responsible for complicated and lethal disease due to malaria. One of proteins responsible for the pathology is Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein-1 (PfEMP-1), which is encoded by the highly polymorphic var gene family. Intensive research efforts to reduce disease severity and mortality and decrease transmission remain elusive due to complexity of the parasite. This book, therefore, provides the characteristic of the Indonesian Plasmodium falciparum var genes, the diversity and the binding capacity of its protein to the most important host receptors, ICAM-1, which implicated to the pathology of severe malaria. The analysis should help enlighten on this interesting genes and useful for researchers in malarial pathology fields, or anyone else who may be interested in tropical diseases.