Malaria pigment

Hemozoin, also known as malaria pigment, is, in teims of its chemical composition, identical to (3-hematin. Hemozoin is formed as a crystallization product of heme under the acidic conditions present in the food vacuole of malarial parasites. In the crystal, the heme molecules are linked into dimers through reciprocal iron-carboxylate bonds to one of the propionate side chains of each porphyrin. The dimers form chains linked by hydrogen bonds. 

Slater A, Swiggard W, Orton B, Hitter W, Goldberg D, Cerami A, Henderson G. An iron-carboxylate bond links the heme units of malaria pigment. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1991 88 325-329. Noland G, Briones N, Sullivan D Jr. The shape and size of hemozoin crystals distinguishes diverse Plasmodium species. Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. 2003 130 91-99. 

Pagola S, Stephens P, Bohle D, Kosar A, Madsen S. The structure of malaria pigment beta-hematin. Nature 2000 404 307-310. Schwarzer E, Kuhn H, Valente E, Arese P. Malaria-parasitized erythrocytes and hemozoin nonenzymatically generate large amounts of hydroxy fatty acids that inhibit monocyte functions. Blood 2003 101 722-728. 

Carney CK, Schrimpe AC, Halfpenny K, Harry SR, Miller CM, Broncel M, Sewell SL, Schaff JE, Deol R, Carter MD, Wright DW. The basis of the immunomodulatory activity of malaria pigment (hemozoin). J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 2006 11 917-929. 

Taramelli, D., Basilico, N., De Palma, A. M., Saresella, M., Ferrante, P., Mussoni, L., and Olliaro, P. (1998). The effect of synthetic malaria pigment (beta-haematin) on adhesion molecule expression and interleukin-6 production by human endothelial cells. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 92,57-62. 

Urban, B. C., and Todryk, S. (2006). Malaria pigment paralyzes dendritic cells. ]. Biol. 5,4. 

Taramelii, D., Recalcati, S., Basilico, N., Olliaro, P. and Cairo, G. Macrophage preconditioning with synthetic malaria pigment reduces cytokine production via heme iron-dependent oxidative stress. Laboratory Investigation 80 1781-1788 2000. 

FIG. 135 The food vacuole of P. gallinaceum. Note the decreased density of the food vacuole (F) as compared to the erythrocyte cytoplasm. Also indicated are malaria pigment particles (P) (hemozoin). (Reprinted with permission from ref. 54.)... 

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