恶性疟原虫var基因家族研究进展

Research progress on var gene family in Plasmodium falciparum

疟疾严重威胁人类健康，恶性疟原虫是致疟疾病例死亡的主要病因。PfEMP1蛋白由var基因家族编码在恶性疟原虫的生存和重症疟疾发病过程中起重要作用。vor基因家族基因数目多，调控机制复杂，一直是研究的热点。该文就vor基因家族的分布、结构、多态性、转录、表达及其调控机制方面近期的进展加以综述。

Malaria is a major threat to human life and health. Plasmodiumfalciparum is responsible for most of deadly malaria cases. P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 （ PfEMP1 ） is an important factor in survival of P. falciparum and the pathogenesis of severe malaria, encoded by a family of roughly 60 var genes. The number of vat gene family is large, and its regulation mechanism is complicated. The reseaches on vat gene family have been a hot topic. This review highlights the recent research progress on distribution, structure, polymorphism, transcription, expression and regulation mechanism of vat genes in P. falciparum.