New treatments for malaria¹（疟疾，瘴气） are possible after Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists found that molecules² similar to the blood-thinning drug heparin（肝磷脂） can stop malaria from infecting red blood cells. Malaria is an infection of red blood cells that is transmitted（传输，传送） by mosquitoes. The most common form of malaria is caused by the parasite³（寄生虫） Plasmodium falciparum（恶性疟原虫） which burrows⁴ into（钻进） red blood cells where it rapidly multiplies, leading to massive numbers of parasites⁵ in the blood stream that can cause severe disease and death.

At the moment, all anti-malarials licensed⁶ for use in humans block the development of the parasite within the red blood cell.

But Dr James Beeson, Ms Michelle Boyle and Dr Jack⁷ Richards from the institute's Infection and Immunity⁸ division, along with colleagues at the Burnet Institute and Imperial College London, have identified a new approach that could stop the parasite infecting red blood cells in the first place.

Using real-time video microscopy（显微镜使用） of red blood cell infection, the team showed that heparin-like carbohydrates⁹（碳水化物） blocked the ability of the malaria parasite to infect cells, Dr Beeson said.

"The malaria parasite needs a protein called MSP1 if it is to infect red blood cells as MSP1 is involved in the initial attachment¹⁰ of the parasite to the cells," Dr Beeson said.

"We have shown that heparin-like carbohydrates bind¹¹ to MSP1 which stops the parasite from properly attaching to the red blood cell and, therefore, from invading."

The findings are published today in the international journal Blood and have raised the prospect¹² of developing new anti-malarials that are based on the structure and activity of heparin-like molecules.

Although humans produce heparin-like molecules naturally, they do not occur at high enough levels in the blood to have anti-malarial activity, Dr Beeson said. "Heparin itself wouldn't be suitable as an anti-malarial as it prevents blood clotting¹³（血液凝结） . However, we have identified related compounds that are more potent¹⁴ against malaria than heparin but do not prevent blood clotting- these could form the basis of new antimalarial drugs."

Each year more than 400 million people contract malaria, and around one million people, mostly children, die from the disease.