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Erythrocyte Remodeling in P lasmodium berghei Infection: The Contribution of SEP Family Members
Author(s) -
Currà Chiara,
Pace Tomasino,
FrankeFayard Blandine M. D.,
Picci Leonardo,
Bertuccini Lucia,
Ponzi Marta
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
traffic
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.677
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1600-0854
pISSN - 1398-9219
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0854.2011.01313.x
Subject(s) - plasmodium berghei , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , membrane protein , transmembrane protein , signal peptide , cytosol , transport protein , vacuole , vesicle , protein family , transmembrane domain , peptide sequence , biochemistry , cytoplasm , receptor , gene , membrane , immunology , malaria , enzyme
The malaria parasite Plasmodium largely modifies the infected erythrocyte through the export of proteins to multiple sites within the host cell. This remodeling is crucial for pathology and translocation of virulence factors to the erythrocyte surface. In this study, we investigated localization and export of small exported proteins/early transcribed membrane proteins ( SEP / ETRAMPs ), conserved within Plasmodium genus. This protein family is characterized by a predicted signal peptide, a short lysine‐rich stretch, an internal transmembrane domain and a highly charged C‐terminal region of variable length. We show here that members of the rodent Plasmodium berghei family are components of the parasitophorous vacuole membrane ( PVM ), which surrounds the parasite throughout the erythrocytic cycle. During P. berghei development, vesicle‐like structures containing these proteins detach from the PVM en route to the host cytosol. These SEP ‐containing vesicles remain associated with the infected erythrocyte ghosts most probably anchored to the membrane skeleton. Transgenic lines expressing the green fluorescent protein appended to different portions of sep ‐coding region allowed us to define motifs required for protein export. The highly charged terminal region appears to be involved in protein–protein interactions.