Cell and Developmental Biology Group, School of Life Sciences, Queens Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG2 7UH, UK; Department of Cancer Studies and Cancer Research UK Leicester Centre, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester LE2 7LX, UK.
Cell and Developmental Biology Group, School of Life Sciences, Queens Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG2 7UH, UK.
Trends Parasitol. 2015 Dec;31(12):676-685. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2015.08.002. Epub 2015 Oct 1.
During each cycle of asexual endomitotic division in erythrocytes, the malaria parasite makes a fundamental and crucial decision: to continue to invade and proliferate or to differentiate into gametocytes ready for continuation of sexual development. The proteins and regulatory pathways involved in Plasmodium sexual development have been of great interest in recent years as targets for blocking malaria transmission. However, the 'Holy Grail', the master switch orchestrating asexual-to-sexual commitment and further differentiation, has remained elusive - until now. Here we highlight the recent studies identifying the epigenetic and transcriptional master regulators of sexual commitment and discuss the key players in reversible phosphorylation pathways involved in sexual and zygote differentiation.
在红细胞的无性内共生分裂的每个周期中，疟原虫做出一个基本的、关键的决定：是继续入侵和增殖，还是分化成配子体，准备进行有性发育。近年来，参与疟原虫有性发育的蛋白质和调控途径作为阻断疟疾传播的靶点引起了极大的关注。然而，直到现在，“圣杯”——协调无性向有性承诺和进一步分化的主开关——仍然难以捉摸。在这里，我们强调了最近确定有性承诺的表观遗传和转录主控因子的研究，并讨论了参与有性和合子分化的可逆磷酸化途径的关键因子。
