Plasmodium falciparum -: do killers commit suicide?

Apoptotic markers similar to those occurring during apoptosis of metazoa have been described for a growing number of unicellular organisms, including protozoan parasites such as Leishmania and Trypanosoma. Amazingly, protozoa lack most of the components of the highly sophisticated apoptotic machinery studied in metazoa to date. The apoptosis-like cell death of parasitic protozoa might therefore be exploited for drug development with the aim of selectively switching on the programmed cell death of the parasite, but not of the host. Current knowledge on apoptosis-like cell death in unicellular organisms and the potential methodological difficulties of studying apoptotic markers in Plasmodium spp. are reviewed here. The available data have led us to the hypothesis that, despite the presently controversial debate, Plasmodium falciparum might be able to undergo an apoptosis-like cell death.