Mechanisms Regulating Transcription in Plasmodium Falciparum as Targets for Novel Antimalarial Drugs

As any organism, the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is dependent on a fine-tuned regulation of gene expression for its development and successful propagation. Recent insights into this process suggest that the parasite relies heavily on epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation, more so than its human host. As we gain a better understanding of how gene expression is orchestrated in the parasite, novel avenues for the development of antimalarial therapies are opening up. In this chapter, various mechanisms that play a role in regulating transcription in the parasite are discussed, including nucleosome landscape, histone variants, histone modifications, and nuclear architecture. In addition, molecular components that are involved in these mechanisms and that may be promising targets of novel antimalarial drugs are reviewed.