Plasmodium berghei P47 is essential for ookinete protection from the Anopheles gambiae complement-like response.

ABSTRACT: Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease affecting millions of people every year. The rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei has served as a model for human malaria transmission studies and played a pivotal role in dissecting the mosquito immune response against infection. The 6-cysteine protein P47, known to be important for P. berghei female gamete fertility, is shown to serve a different function in Plasmodium falciparum, protecting ookinetes from the mosquito immune response. Here, we investigate the function of P. berghei P47 in Anopheles gambiae mosquito infections. We show that P47 is expressed on the surface of both female gametocytes and ookinetes where it serves distinct functions in promoting gametocyte-to-ookinete development and protecting ookinetes from the mosquito complement-like re

SUBMITTER: Ukegbu CV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5519742 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature