Studying a group of children and adults in the Kilifi District of coastal Kenya, they found that this protection increased during childhood up to age 10, and then declined.

Malaria causes about a million deaths yearly, the overwhelming number of which are young children in sub-Saharan Africa. It has been known for many years that in those areas most afflicted by malaria the gene for sickle cell hemoglobin (HbS) occurs very frequently. The protection against malaria occurs in people who are heterozygote (HbAS), i.e., have one normal and one sickle gene, and previous work has suggested that there is an immune component to this protection.

To discover whether the protection provided by HbAS is innate or varies with age, the authors studied age-specific malaria in a sample of children and adults in the Kilifi District of coastal Kenya. Protection against mild malaria increased up to 60% at age 10, decreasing to 30% in older children.

Research into malaria has yet to yield an effective vaccine but this work may provide some insights for such research. The authors suggest mechanisms by which HbAS could affect immunity, for example, accelerated acquisition of antibodies to altered host proteins expressed on the malaria-infected red cell surface.

Citation: Williams TN, Mwangi TW, Roberts DJ, Alexander ND, Weatherall DJ, et al. (2005) An immune basis for malaria protection by the sickle cell trait. PLoS Med 2(5): e128.

plosmedicine/

While the researchers are handling the spidroin-2 complicated gene, concurrently a recombinant protein “ analogue to spidroin-2 “ was received through synthesizing the gene that corresponds to one of its fragments (similar to the way they worked with spidroin-1). The scientists created a gene, inserted it into yeast plants and got the protein. In this case, however, the researchers applied a different species of yeast “Pichia pastoris, special culture of which ideally suits for biotechnological manipulations due to peculiar mutation.

Availability of protein in selected yeast plants is checked by electrophoresis method “ a fascia appears on the plate, its position corresponding to its molecular mass.

The yeast grows and produces protein in a special apparatus - fermenter. Some days later, the cell suspension with finished product is partially poured off, fresh cultural medium is added, and the cycle is reiterated. Therefore, the process is called quasi- continuous.

At this stage, the researchers also improved the process of artificial spinning and learned to get a strong elastic filament. The filament was tested for strength on special devices by the specialists of the Scientific-Research Center Coal-Chemical Fiber in the town of Mytishchi. A filament being several microns thick can stand for rupture of 50 to 100 milligrams of weight. Our filament has turned out to be only four times less strong than that of a spider, says Vladimir Bogush, project manager, and this is a very good result.

The protein can be used to produce not only filaments but also films. In this form it is supposed to be used for production of healing coating for wounds and burns, which will not be rejected by the organism and will stimulate regeneration of its own epithelium. In the meanwhile, the films produced from recombinant protein were investigated for toxicity in experiments with cell culture. The conclusion made by the researchers is that the films are non-toxic.

When the researchers succeed to finalize the synthesis of a very complicated gene and to get a full natural analogue to spidroin-2, it will be possible to mix two proteins in different ratio changing the properties this or that way and to bring artificial spidery filament to perfection.

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