The Plasmodium CSP repeats have elastic properties with an important role in sporozoite motility

ABSTRACT: The Plasmodium circumsporozoite protein (CSP) forms a dense coat on the surface of the sporozoite, the infective stage of the malaria parasite. The central repeat region of CSP is the primary immunological target of the sporozoite stage, yet little is known about its structure or function. Here, we show that sporozoite mutants with truncated or scrambled CSP repeats exhibit impaired motility due to altered adhesion site formation and dynamics, suggesting that CSP repeats play a role in the formation of the parasite's adhesion sites to host cells. We hypothesized that this role depends on the biophysical properties of the repeats, and used single-molecule fluorescence-force spectroscopy to test this hypothesis. Our results indicate that the CSP repeats behave like a stiff, linear spring wit

SUBMITTER: Amanda, E Balaban 

PROVIDER: S-SCDT-10_1038-S44318-025-00551-9 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other