Desai S A, Rosenberg R L
Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Mar 4;94(5):2045-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.5.2045.
The malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, requires large amounts of nutrients to sustain its rapid growth within the human red blood cell. A recently identified ion channel on the surface of the intraerythrocytic parasite may provide direct access to these nutrients in the red blood cell cytosol. Evidence supporting this role was obtained by incorporating this channel into planar lipid bilayers. In bilayers, this channel has conductance and gating properties identical to the in situ channel, passes soluble macromolecules of up to 1400 Da, and functions as a high capacity, low affinity molecular sieve. These properties, remarkably similar to those of a pore on Toxoplasma gondii (another protozoan parasite causing human disease), suggest a novel class of channels used by these intracellular parasites to acquire nutrients from host cytosol.
疟原虫，即恶性疟原虫，需要大量营养物质来维持其在人类红细胞内的快速生长。最近在红细胞内寄生虫表面发现的一种离子通道可能为获取红细胞胞质溶胶中的这些营养物质提供直接途径。通过将该通道整合到平面脂质双分子层中获得了支持这一作用的证据。在双分子层中，该通道具有与原位通道相同的电导和门控特性，能通过分子量高达1400道尔顿的可溶性大分子，并作为一种高容量、低亲和力的分子筛发挥作用。这些特性与刚地弓形虫（另一种导致人类疾病的原生动物寄生虫）上的孔非常相似，提示这些细胞内寄生虫利用一类新型通道从宿主胞质溶胶中获取营养物质。
