title: Translational Repression in Malaria Sporozoites.
abstract: Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals. It is caused by the parasitic protozoan,Plasmodium. Sporozoites, the infectious form of malaria parasites, are quiescent when they remain in the salivary glands of theAnophelesmosquito until transmission into a mammalian host. Metamorphosis of the dormant sporozoite to its active form in the liver stage requires transcriptional and translational regulations. Here, we summarize recent advances in the translational repression of gene expression in the malaria sporozoite. In sporozoites, many mRNAs that are required for liver stage development are translationally repressed. Phosphorylation of eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2α (eIF2α) leads to a global translational repression in sporozoites. The eIF2α kinase, known as Upregulated in Infectious Sporozoite 1 (UIS1), is dominant in the sporozoite. The eIF2α phosphatase, UIS2, is translationally repressed by the Pumilio protein Puf2. This translational repression is alleviated when sporozoites are delivered into the mammalian host.
authors.affiliation: HIV and Malaria Vaccine Program, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Affiliate of The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Turque
authors.affiliation: HIV and Malaria Vaccine Program, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Affiliate of The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Tiffany
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.affiliation: HIV and Malaria Vaccine Program, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Affiliate of The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: HIV and Malaria Vaccine Program, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Affiliate of The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA. ; Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Plasmodium; UIS1; UIS2; eIF2α; latency; sporozoites; translational repression