A pan-apicomplexan phosphoinositide-binding protein acts in malarial microneme exocytosis.

ABSTRACT: Invasion of human red blood cells by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is an essential step in the development of the disease. Consequently, the molecular players involved in host cell invasion represent important targets for inhibitor design and vaccine development. The process of merozoite invasion is a succession of steps underlined by the sequential secretion of the organelles of the apical complex. However, little is known with regard to how their contents are exocytosed. Here, we identify a phosphoinositide-binding protein conserved in apicomplexan parasites and show that it is important for the attachment and subsequent invasion of the erythrocyte by the merozoite. Critically, removing the protein from its site of action by knock sideways preferentially prevents the secreti

SUBMITTER: Ebrahimzadeh Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6549027 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature