Premium
Unusual properties of Plasmodium falciparum actin: new insights into microfilament dynamics of apicomplexan parasites
Author(s) -
Schüler Herwig,
Mueller Ann-Kristin,
Matuschewski Kai
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2004.12.037
Subject(s) - microfilament , plasmodium (life cycle) , biology , gelsolin , plasmodium falciparum , actin , phalloidin , microbiology and biotechnology , apicomplexa , cytoplasm , actin remodeling , intracellular parasite , intracellular , actin cytoskeleton , parasite hosting , cytoskeleton , biochemistry , cell , malaria , immunology , world wide web , computer science
Plasmodium falciparum , the etiologic agent of malaria, is a facultative intracellular parasite of the phylum Apicomplexa . A limited turnover of microfilaments takes place beneath the parasite plasma membrane, but the cytoplasm of apicomplexans is virtually devoid of F‐actin. We produced Plasmodium actin in yeast. Purified recombinant Plasmodium actin polymerized inefficiently unless both gelsolin and phalloidin were added. The resulting actin polymers appeared fragmented in the fluorescence microscope. Plasmodium actin bound DNaseI about 200 times weaker than bovine non‐muscle actin. Our findings suggest that the unique properties of Plasmodium actin can explain some of the unusual features of apicomplexan parasite microfilaments.