Heme-containing proteins in the Malaria Parasite

Abstract

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by the parasite, Plasmodium Falciparum. Heme, an iron-containing prosthetic group plays an important and yet poorly understood role in the parasite life cycle. Several genes coding for putative heme-binding proteins have been observed in the parasite genome. Functional characterization of these heme-binding proteins could possibly lead to identification of possible therapeutic targets