Iyer Jayasree, Grüner Anne Charlotte, Rénia Laurent, Snounou Georges, Preiser Peter R
Nanyang Technological University, School of Biological Sciences, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore.
Mol Microbiol. 2007 Jul;65(2):231-49. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05791.x.
Malaria parasites are obligate intracellular parasites whose invasive stages select and invade the unique host cell in which they can develop with exquisite specificity and efficacy. Most studies aimed at elucidating the molecules and the mechanisms implicated in the selection and invasion processes have been conducted on the merozoite, the stage that invades erythrocytes to perpetuate the pathological cycles of parasite multiplication in the blood. Bioinformatic analysis has helped identify the members of two parasite protein families, the reticulocyte-binding protein homologues (RBL) and erythrocyte binding like (EBL), in recently sequenced genomes of different Plasmodium species. In this article we review data from classical studies and gene disruption experiments that are helping to illuminate the role of these proteins in the selection-invasion processes. The manner in which subsets of proteins from each of the families act in concert suggests a model to explain the ability of the parasites to use alternate pathways of invasion. Future perspectives and implications are discussed.
疟原虫是专性细胞内寄生虫，其侵入阶段会选择并侵入独特的宿主细胞，在其中它们能够以极高的特异性和效率进行发育。大多数旨在阐明参与选择和侵入过程的分子及机制的研究都是在裂殖子上进行的，裂殖子是侵入红细胞以延续寄生虫在血液中增殖病理周期的阶段。生物信息学分析有助于在不同疟原虫物种最近测序的基因组中识别出两个寄生虫蛋白家族的成员，即网织红细胞结合蛋白同源物（RBL）和红细胞结合样蛋白（EBL）。在本文中，我们回顾了来自经典研究和基因敲除实验的数据，这些数据有助于阐明这些蛋白在选择-侵入过程中的作用。每个家族的蛋白质亚群协同作用的方式提示了一个模型，用以解释寄生虫利用替代侵入途径的能力。文中还讨论了未来的前景和意义。
