Download june_18_2009 - Discoveries Need Dollars

Media Release
Embargoed until Thursday 18 June 2009
An Achilles heel in malaria offers new therapy hope
Melbourne scientists have identified a chink in the life cycle of malaria that offers hope for the development of
new treatment options for this devastating disease.
The malaria parasite grows inside red blood cells but to survive and cause illness it must transport hundreds of
different proteins to the outside. While these proteins have many different functions that are crucial to parasite
growth and survival, a common feature is that they must all pass through the same pore in the surrounding
membrane.
Melbourne scientists have now discovered the identity of this protein pore. The main significance of this
finding, announced today in the leading scientific journal Nature, is its implication for a new anti-malarial
therapy.
The research has been undertaken in a collaboration that includes two of Australia’s leading medical research
institutes, The Burnet Institute and The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research and Deakin
University’s new Medical School.
Dr Tania de Koning-Ward, the lead author of the study, said the discovery opened up a new way to combat
this disease.
“The next step is to identify drugs that block this protein channel. Since it is completely unique to malaria
parasites this is a realistic possibility”, she said.
Professor Brendan Crabb, coordinator of the project, said the discovery is a breakthrough.
“Protein export machines are of great interest in biology but because of the enormous scale of the malaria
problem this one also has practical health value. Therapies that block this pore interfere with many different
crucial processes in the one hit and in that sense it is an Achilles heel of the malaria parasite.”
Malaria is spread via mosquitoes and its most lethal form is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
There are in excess of 400 million cases of malaria each year with more than one million people, mainly
children, dying from the disease. New therapies are urgently needed to combat ever-increasing resistance to
the available drugs.
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More Information
About Burnet Institute
The Burnet Institute is Australia’s leading medical research and public health institute specialising in infectious
diseases immunology and cancer. The Institute’s mission is to reduce the impact of infectious diseases by
translating medical research into tangible public health outcomes. Burnet has more than 350 scientific
researchers and public health professionals and has specifically chosen to focus its efforts on finding solutions
to those infectious diseases that have the greatest impact on humankind today. Burnet has public health
programs in Australia and in many resource-poor countries of the Asia Pacific region, as well as in Africa. The
Institute plays a critical role in preventing the spread of and reducing the impact of infectious diseases in these
countries.
For further information about the Burnet Institute www.burnet.edu.au
About Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research is one of the world’s leading biomedical research
centres. Established in 1915 as a benevolence of the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, today the Institute comprises
over 600 staff dedicated to the ‘mastery of disease through discovery’. Located in Parkville, near Melbourne’s
CBD, the Institute is an independent not-for-profit company affiliated with The University of Melbourne and The
Royal Melbourne Hospital. Its state-of-the art facilities and cutting-edge research training has benefited
scientists, clinicians, post-doctoral fellows and post-graduate students from around Australia and across the
world. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s world-renowned scientific teams are focused on four big global
medical challenges: cancer – leukemia, lymphoma, breast cancer, multiple myeloma; immunity – immune
regulation, vaccines, immunotherapy, inflammation; autoimmunity – diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac
disease; and infectious diseases – malaria, leishmaniasis, chronic virus infections. The Institute’s vision is to
translate discoveries made at the laboratory bench into improved outcomes for patients and more effective
preventative strategies. In order to realise this goal, institute scientists engage not only in discovery research
but also in clinical and commercial partnerships. A major building project currently underway will double the
Institute’s physical footprint and provide great opportunities for Australia’s next generation of biomedical
researchers.
About Deakin University
Deakin University seeks to be recognised as Australia’s most progressive university. It aims to do this by
ensuring that all of its activities are relevant, innovative and responsive. Deakin has campuses in Melbourne,
Geelong and Warrnambool. The Deakin Medical School is Victoria's first rural and regional medical school.
The goal of the medical program is to contribute to the improvement of the health and wellbeing of Australians
by creating a cohort of new doctors who are skilled and motivated to pursue a career in medicine in rural and
regional areas either as specialists or general practitioners.
Media Enquiries:
Tracy Routledge, Senior Public Affairs Officer, Burnet Institute
PH: (03) 9282 2240 or 0412 223 221
E: [email protected]