Mastan Babu S, Kumari Anchala, Gupta Dinesh, Mishra Satish, Kumar Kota Arun
Department of Animal Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India.
Bioinformatics Laboratory, SCB Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, 110 067 New Delhi, India.
Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2014 Jun;195(1):10-3. doi: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2014.05.004. Epub 2014 Jun 2.
Plasmepsins (PM), aspartic proteases of Plasmodium, comprises a family of ten proteins that perform critical functions in Plasmodium life cycle. Except VII and VIII, functions of the remaining plasmepsin members have been well characterized. Here, we have generated a mutant parasite lacking PM VII in Plasmodium berghei using reverse genetics approach. Systematic comparison of growth kinetics and infection in both mosquito and vertebrate host revealed that PM VII depleted mutants exhibited no defects in development and progressed normally throughout the parasite life cycle. These studies suggest a dispensable role for PM VII in Plasmodium berghei life cycle.
疟原虫天冬氨酸蛋白酶（PM）是疟原虫的天冬氨酸蛋白酶，由十种蛋白质组成的家族，它们在疟原虫生命周期中发挥关键作用。除了VII和VIII之外，其余疟原虫天冬氨酸蛋白酶成员的功能已得到充分表征。在这里，我们使用反向遗传学方法在伯氏疟原虫中产生了一种缺乏PM VII的突变寄生虫。对蚊子和脊椎动物宿主中的生长动力学和感染进行系统比较后发现，缺乏PM VII的突变体在发育过程中没有缺陷，并且在整个寄生虫生命周期中正常发育。这些研究表明PM VII在伯氏疟原虫生命周期中作用不大。
