Song P, Malhotra P, Tuteja N, Chauhan V S
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, India.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1999 Feb 16;255(2):312-6. doi: 10.1006/bbrc.1999.0204.
RNA helicases play many essential roles including cell development and growth. Using degenerate oligonucleotide primers designed to amplify DNA fragments flanked by the highly conserved helicase motifs VLDEAD and YIHRIG and genomic DNAs from the malarial parasites as a template, we have cloned two putative RNA helicase genes (546 and 540 bp) from P. falciparum and one gene (546 bp) from P. cynomologi. Southern blot analysis revealed that these could be multiple and single-copy genes in P. falciparum and P. cynomolgi, respectively. Several members of the RNA helicase gene family share sequence identity with malarial parasite's helicases ranging from 30 to 76%, suggesting that they are functionally related. The discovery of such a multitude of putative RNA helicase genes in malarial parasites suggested that RNA helicase activities may be involved in many essential biological processes. Further characterization of these helicases may also help in designing parasite-specific inhibitors/drugs which specifically inhibit the parasite's growth without affecting the host.
RNA解旋酶发挥着许多重要作用，包括细胞发育和生长。我们使用设计用于扩增由高度保守的解旋酶基序VLDEAD和YIHRIG侧翼的DNA片段的简并寡核苷酸引物，并以疟原虫的基因组DNA为模板，从恶性疟原虫中克隆了两个假定的RNA解旋酶基因（546和540 bp），从食蟹猴疟原虫中克隆了一个基因（546 bp）。Southern印迹分析表明，这些基因在恶性疟原虫和食蟹猴疟原虫中分别可能是多拷贝和单拷贝基因。RNA解旋酶基因家族的几个成员与疟原虫解旋酶的序列同一性在30%至76%之间，表明它们在功能上相关。在疟原虫中发现如此众多的假定RNA解旋酶基因表明，RNA解旋酶活性可能参与许多重要的生物学过程。对这些解旋酶的进一步表征也可能有助于设计特异性抑制寄生虫生长而不影响宿主的寄生虫特异性抑制剂/药物。
