title: Identification of a new export signal in Plasmodium yoelii: identification of a new exportome.
abstract: Development of the erythrocytic malaria parasite requires targeting of parasite proteins into multiple compartments located within and beyond the parasite confine. Beyond the PEXEL/VTS pathway and its characterized players, increasing amount of evidence has highlighted the existence of proteins exported using alternative export-signal(s)/pathway(s); hence, the exportomes currently predicted are incomplete. The nature of these exported proteins which could have a prominent role in most of the Plasmodium species remains elusive. Using P.  yoelii variant proteins, we identified a signal associated to lipophilic region that mediates export of P.  yoelii proteins. This non-PEXEL signal termed PLASMED is defined by semi-conserved residues and possibly a secondary structure. In vivo characterization of exported-proteins indicated that PLASMED is a bona fide export-signal that allowed us to identify an unseen P.  yoelii exportome. The repertoire of the newly predicted exported proteins opens up perspectives for unravelling the remodelling of the host-cell by the parasite, against which new therapies could be elaborated.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 637551, Singapore.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siau
authors.forename: Ximei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Xue Yan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Yam
authors.forename: Ndeye Sakha
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Bob
authors.forename: Hequan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jagath C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rajapakse
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Renia
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Preiser
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D010967:Plasmodium yoelii / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D021381:Protein Transport; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D015800:Protozoan Proteins