title: Cloning and expression of the thrombospondin related adhesive protein gene of Plasmodium berghei.
abstract: Sporozoite recognition of host cells is a key step in the life-cycle of malaria parasites. Two sporozoite proteins have so far been characterized in some detail, the circumsporozoite protein (CS) and thrombospondin related adhesive protein (TRAP). We report here the cloning and expression of the TRAP gene homologue from Plasmodium berghei, PbTRAP. The PbTRAP gene encodes a protein of 606 amino acids having a deduced molecular mass of 66 kDa. The overall structure is clearly that of the TRAP family having a signal sequence followed by an integrin A domain, a sulphatide binding motif, followed by a proline based repeat before a transmembrane domain and helical cytoplasmic tail. The observed molecular mass is almost 50% larger than expected, this can be explained almost entirely by the abnormal behaviour in SDS-PAGE of the proline based repeat. As would be expected PbTRAP shows greatest similarity with the P. yoelli TRAP homologue sporozoite surface protein 2 (SSP2) than with PfTRAP, the TRAP gene from P. falciparum. The pattern of expression is similar to that of SSP2.
authors.affiliation: MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Robson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naitza
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Sinden
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crisanti
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010962:Plasmodium berghei / Q000235:genetics*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C069428:thrombospondin-related adhesive protein, protozoan