Brochet Mathieu, Billker Oliver
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, University of Geneva, 1 Rue Michel-Servet, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
UMR5235 CNRS-Université Montpellier 2, 34095, Montpellier, France.
Mol Microbiol. 2016 May;100(3):397-408. doi: 10.1111/mmi.13324. Epub 2016 Feb 12.
Ca(2+) is a ubiquitous intracellular messenger in malaria parasites with important functions in asexual blood stages responsible for malaria symptoms, the preceding liver-stage infection and transmission through the mosquito. Intracellular messengers amplify signals by binding to effector molecules that trigger physiological changes. The characterisation of some Ca(2+) effector proteins has begun to provide insights into the vast range of biological processes controlled by Ca(2+) signalling in malaria parasites, including host cell egress and invasion, protein secretion, motility and cell cycle regulation. Despite the importance of Ca(2+) signalling during the life cycle of malaria parasites, little is known about Ca(2+) homeostasis. Recent findings highlighted that upstream of stage-specific Ca(2+) effectors is a conserved interplay between second messengers to control critical intracellular Ca(2+) signals throughout the life cycle. The identification of the molecular mechanisms integrating stage-transcending mechanisms of Ca(2+) homeostasis in a network of stage-specific regulator and effector pathways now represents a major challenge for a meaningful understanding of Ca(2+) signalling in malaria parasites.
钙离子（Ca(2+)）是疟原虫中一种普遍存在的细胞内信使，在导致疟疾症状的无性血液阶段、之前的肝脏阶段感染以及通过蚊子传播等过程中发挥着重要作用。细胞内信使通过与触发生理变化的效应分子结合来放大信号。一些钙离子效应蛋白的特性研究已开始为深入了解疟原虫中由钙离子信号传导控制的广泛生物过程提供线索，这些过程包括宿主细胞逸出和入侵、蛋白质分泌、运动性以及细胞周期调控。尽管钙离子信号传导在疟原虫生命周期中至关重要，但人们对钙离子稳态却知之甚少。最近的研究结果表明，在特定阶段的钙离子效应器上游，第二信使之间存在保守的相互作用，以控制整个生命周期中关键的细胞内钙离子信号。在特定阶段的调节因子和效应器途径网络中，确定整合钙离子稳态的跨阶段机制的分子机制，现在是有意义地理解疟原虫中钙离子信号传导的一项重大挑战。
