Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena, PhD, studies molecular interactions between the malaria parasite and the mosquito vector, focusing on the use of mosquito symbiotic bacteria to prevent malaria transmission.
Contact Info
Research Interests
malaria; mosquitoes; transgenesis; Plasmodium-mosquito interacions; peritrophic matrix
Additional Links
Experiences & Accomplishments
Mosquitoes as Vectors for the Malaria Parasite
Our research covers four topics:
o Genetic modification of mosquito vectorial capacity o Mosquito-Plasmodium interactions o Gene expression during Plasmodium development in the mosquito o Structure and function of the peritrophic matrix (PM)
Select Publications
Srinivasan P, Coppens I and Jacobs-Lorena M (2008) Distinct roles of Plasmodium Rhomboid 1 in parasite development and malaria pathogenesis. PLoS Pathogens 5(1) e1000262.
Ghosh AK, Devenport M, Jethwaney D, Kalume DE, Pandey A, Anderson VE, Sultan AA, Kumar N and Jacobs-Lorena M (2008) Malaria parasite invasion of the mosquito salivary gland requires interaction between the Plasmodium TRAP and the Anopheles saglin proteins. PLoS Pathogens, 5(1)e1000265.
Dinglasan RR, Devenport M, Florens L, Johnson JR, McHugh CA, Donnelly-Doman, M, Carucci DJ, Yates JR. III and Jacobs-Lorena, M (2008) The Anopheles gambiae adult midgut peritrophic matrix proteome. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol, in press.
Srinivasan P, Fujioka H and Jacobs-Lorena M (2008) PbCap380, a novel oocyst capsule protein, is essential for malaria parasite survival in the mosquito. Cell. Microbiol. 10:1304-1312.
Li C, Marrelli MT, Yan G and Jacobs-Lorena M (2008) Fitness of transgenic Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes expressing the SM1 peptide under the control of a vitellogenin promoter. J. Hered. 99:275-282.