etramps, a new Plasmodium falciparum gene family coding for developmentally regulated and highly charged membrane proteins located at the parasite-host cell interface.

After invasion of erythrocytes, the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum resides within a parasitophorous vacuole and develops from morphologically and metabolically distinct ring to trophozoite stages. During these developmental phases, major structural changes occur within the erythrocyte, but neither the molecular events governing this development nor the molecular composition of the parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM) is well known. Herein, we describe a new family of highly cationic proteins from P. falciparum termed early transcribed membrane proteins (ETRAMPs). Thirteen members were identified sharing a conserved structure, of which six were found only during ring stages as judged from Northern and Western analysis. Other members showed different stage-specific expression patterns. Furthermore, ETRAMPs were associated with the membrane fractions in Western blots, and colocalization and selective permeabilization studies demonstrated that ETRAMPs were located in the PVM. This was confirmed by immunoelectron microscopy where the PVM and tubovesicular extensions of the PVM were labeled. Early expressed ETRAMPs clearly defined separate PVM domains compared with the negatively charged integral PVM protein EXP-1, suggesting functionally different domains in the PVM with an oppositely charged surface coat. We also show that the dynamic change of ETRAMP composition in the PVM coincides with the morphological changes during development. The P. falciparum PVM is an important structure for parasite survival, and its analysis might provide better understanding of the requirements of intracellular parasites.