title: Targeting malaria virulence and remodeling proteins to the host erythrocyte.
abstract: To establish infection in the host, malaria parasites export remodeling and virulence proteins into the erythrocyte. These proteins can traverse a series of membranes, including the parasite membrane, the parasitophorous vacuole membrane, and the erythrocyte membrane. We show that a conserved pentameric sequence plays a central role in protein export into the host cell and predict the exported proteome in Plasmodium falciparum. We identified 400 putative erythrocyte-targeted proteins corresponding to approximately 8% of all predicted genes, with 225 virulence proteins and a further 160 proteins likely to be involved in remodeling of the host erythrocyte. The conservation of this signal across Plasmodium species has implications for the development of new antimalarials.
authors.affiliation: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Victoria 3050, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Good
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rug
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Knuepfer
authors.forename: Alan F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Cowman
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019295:Computational Biology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D021381:Protein Transport; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors