Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia.
Nat Commun. 2015 Mar 31;6:6721. doi: 10.1038/ncomms7721.
The intraerythrocytic malaria parasite relies primarily on glycolysis to fuel its rapid growth and reproduction. The major byproduct of this metabolism, lactic acid, is extruded into the external medium. In this study, we show that the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum expresses at its surface a member of the microbial formate-nitrite transporter family (PfFNT), which, when expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, transports both formate and lactate. The transport characteristics of PfFNT in oocytes (pH-dependence, inhibitor-sensitivity and kinetics) are similar to those of the transport of lactate and formate across the plasma membrane of mature asexual-stage P. falciparum trophozoites, consistent with PfFNT playing a major role in the efflux of lactate and hence in the energy metabolism of the intraerythrocytic parasite.
疟原虫主要依赖糖酵解为其快速生长和繁殖提供燃料。这种代谢的主要副产物乳酸被挤出到外部介质中。在这项研究中，我们表明人类疟原虫 Plasmodium falciparum 在其表面表达微生物甲酸盐-亚硝酸盐转运体家族的一个成员（PfFNT），当在非洲爪蟾卵母细胞中表达时，PfFNT 可以同时转运甲酸盐和乳酸。PfFNT 在卵母细胞中的转运特性（pH 依赖性、抑制剂敏感性和动力学）与成熟无性期 P. falciparum 滋养体穿过质膜转运乳酸和甲酸盐的特性相似，这表明 PfFNT 在乳酸的外排中起主要作用，从而在疟原虫的能量代谢中起主要作用。
