Activation of the Plasmodium Egress Effector Subtilisin-Like Protease 1 Is Mediated by Plasmepsin X Destruction of the Prodomain.

ABSTRACT: Following each round of replication, daughter merozoites of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum escape (egress) from the infected host red blood cell (RBC) by rupturing the parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM) and the RBC membrane (RBCM). A proteolytic cascade orchestrated by a parasite serine protease, subtilisin-like protease 1 (SUB1), regulates the membrane breakdown. SUB1 activation involves primary autoprocessing of the 82-kDa zymogen to a 54-kDa (p54) intermediate that remains bound to its inhibitory propiece (p31) postcleavage. A second processing step converts p54 to the terminal 47-kDa (p47) form of SUB1. Although the aspartic protease plasmepsin X (PM X) has been implicated in the activation of SUB1, the mechanism remains unknown. Here, we show that upon knockdown of PM

SUBMITTER: Mukherjee S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10128010 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature