Publication: A member of the CPW-WPC protein family is expressed in and localized to the surface of developing ookinetes.
Accepted Date
2013-04-08
Issued Date
2013-04-15
Copyright Date
2013
Resource Type
Language
eng
ISSN
1475-2875 (electronic)
Rights
Mahidol University
Rights Holder(s)
BioMed Central
Bibliographic Citation
Kangwanrangsan N, Tachibana M, Jenwithisuk R, Tsuboi T, Riengrojpitak S, Torii M, et al. A member of the CPW-WPC protein family is expressed in and localized to the surface of developing ookinetes. Malar J. 2013 Apr 15;12:129.
Suggested Citation
Niwat Kangwanrangsan, Tachibana, Mayum, Rachaneeporn Jenwithisuk, รัชนีพร เจนวิถีสุข, Tsuboi, Takafumi, Suda Riengrojpitak, Torii, Motom, Ishino, Tomoko A member of the CPW-WPC protein family is expressed in and localized to the surface of developing ookinetes.. Kangwanrangsan N, Tachibana M, Jenwithisuk R, Tsuboi T, Riengrojpitak S, Torii M, et al. A member of the CPW-WPC protein family is expressed in and localized to the surface of developing ookinetes. Malar J. 2013 Apr 15;12:129.. doi:10.1186/1475-2875-12-129. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/745
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Title
A member of the CPW-WPC protein family is expressed in and localized to the surface of developing ookinetes.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite the development of malaria control programs, billions of
people are still at risk for this infectious disease. Recently, the idea of the
transmission-blocking vaccine, which works by interrupting the infection of
mosquitoes by parasites, has gained attention as a promising strategy for malaria
control and eradication. To date, a limited number of surface proteins have been
identified in mosquito-stage parasites and investigated as potential targets for
transmission-blocking vaccines. Therefore, for the development of effective
transmission-blocking strategies in epidemic areas, it is necessary to identify
novel zygote/ookinete surface proteins as candidate antigens.
METHODS: Since the expression of many zygote/ookinete proteins is regulated
post-transcriptionally, proteins that are regulated by well-known translational
mediators were focused. Through in silico screening, CPW-WPC family proteins were
selected as potential zygote/ookinete surface proteins. All experiments were
performed in the rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium yoelii XNL. mRNA and protein
expression profiles were examined by RT-PCR and western blotting, respectively,
over the course of the life cycle of the malaria parasite. Protein function was
also investigated by the generation of gene-disrupted transgenic parasites.
RESULTS: The CPW-WPC protein family, named after the unique WxC repeat domains,
is highly conserved among Plasmodium species. It is revealed that CPW-WPC mRNA
transcripts are transcribed in gametocytes, while CPW-WPC proteins are expressed
in zygote/ookinete-stage parasites. Localization analysis reveals that one of the
CPW-WPC family members, designated as PyCPW-WPC-1, is a novel zygote/ookinete
stage-specific surface protein. Targeted disruption of the pycpw-wpc-1 gene
caused no obvious defects during ookinete and oocyst formation, suggesting that
PyCPW-WPC-1 is not essential for mosquito-stage parasite development.
CONCLUSIONS: It is demonstrated that PyCPW-WPC-1 can be classified as a novel,
post-transcriptionally regulated zygote/ookinete surface protein. Additional
studies are required to determine whether all CPW-WPC family members are also
present on the ookinete surface and share similar biological roles during
mosquito-stage parasite development. Further investigations of CPW-WPC family
proteins may facilitate understanding of parasite biology in the mosquito stage
and development of transmission-blocking vaccines.