The nucleation, growth, structure of the Malaria pigment hemozoin and the mode of action of antimalarial drugs

Mode of action of antimalarial drugs

 As already mentioned, crystallization of the malaria pigment (i.e., hemozoin) by the malaria parasite P. falciparum in infected human red blood cells is a crucial step for its survival. But this process is also the parasite’s Achilles’ heel since hemozoin is an antimalarial drug target. Over the past two decades,

Nucleation, growth and polymorphic transitions of cholesterol monohydrate with relevance to atherosclerosis

Cholesterol H2O nucleation: relevance to atherosclerosis

Cholesterol, which is the most abundant sterol in mammalian cells, is a vital component of cell membranes and essential for cell viability. In biological systems cholesterol is mostly solubilized by incorporation in lipid membranes, bile salts, or with lipoproteins in blood.

Laser-induced ice nucleation

The induction of homogeneous and oriented ice nucleation has to date not been achieved. We have recently reported an induced nucleation of ice from millimeter sized supercooled water drops illuminated by ns-optical laser pulses well below the ionization threshold making use of particular laser beam configurations and polarizations.