• About Us
  • Board of Advisors
  • Contact

MALARIA.com

A Malaria Information and Community Portal

  • Home
  • Malaria Overview
  • Malaria Research
  • News
  • Videos
  • Blogs
  • Malaria Q&A
  • Events
  • Jobs
Home / Malaria Q&A / How was Plasmodium Falciparum AMA1 Discovered?

How was Plasmodium Falciparum AMA1 Discovered?

October 23, 2011 By Malaria Q&A Leave a Comment

QUESTION:

Plasmodium falciparum AMA1 was discovered how?

ANSWER:

AMA1 stands for “apical membrane antigen 1”, and it is a protein expressed in the cell membrane of the P. falciparum parasites.

Whereas many of these antigenic proteins are highly variable between parasites, this one appears to be relatively well conserved in evolutionary terms, and therefore is a leading drug target candidate for development of new therapeutic medication against malaria.

The presence of AMA1 was elucidated during the genome sequencing of Plasmodium falciparum, which was completed in 2002; in the same year, mass spectrometry of the proteins present in P. falciparum was also done, shedding light on the exact structure and biochemistry of AMA1. Both of these studies were published in Nature magazine in 2002.

Filed Under: Malaria Q&A Tagged With: AMA1, apical membrane antigen 1, drug candidate, genome sequencing, Nature, Plasmodium Falciparum, protein mass spectrometry

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Informed

WWARN Corner

About WWARN

The WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) generates innovative resources and reliable evidence to inform the malaria community on the factors affecting the efficacy of antimalarial medicines. Learn more…

  • Fighting Malaria Requires Protecting the Effectiveness of Antimalarial Medicines
  • Data Sharing at IDDO
  • Evidence to inform equitable dosing in very young and malnourished children

More WWARN Stories...

  • Home
  • Malaria Overview
  • Malaria Research
  • News
  • Videos
  • Blogs
  • Malaria Q&A
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • About Us
  • Board of Advisors
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 Malaria.com ยท Log in