Structure and Functional Differentiation of PfCRT Mutation in Chloroquine Resistance (CQR) in Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

Approximately one million deaths are attributed to malaria every year. Latest reports of multi-drug treatment failure of falciparum malaria underscore the desideratum to understand the molecular substratum of drug resistance. The mutations in the digestive vacuole transmembrane protein Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) are mainly responsible for chloroquine resistance (CQR) in Plasmodium falciparum. Multiple mutations in the PfCRT are concerned in chloroquine resistance, but the evolution of intricate haplotypes is not yet well understood. P. falciparum resistance to chloroquine is the standard antimalarial drug and is mediated primarily by mutant forms of the PfCRT. In this chapter, we present the mechanism of action of the chloroquine, the structural changes of the gene after the mutations as well as different haplotypes of the PfCRT.