Malarial hemozoin: From target to tool

Abstract

Malaria is an extremely devastating disease that continues to affect millions of people each year. A distinctive attribute of malaria infected red blood cells is the presence of malarial pigment or so-called hemozoin. Hemozoin is a biocrystal synthesized by Plasmodium and other blood-feeding parasites to avoid the toxicity of free heme derived from the digestion of hemoglobin during invasion of the erythrocytes.