Development of the erythrocytic malaria parasite requires targeting of parasite proteins into multiple compartments located within and beyond the parasite confine. Beyond the PEXEL/VTS pathway and its characterized players, increasing amount of evidence has highlighted the existence of proteins exported using alternative export-signal(s)/pathway(s); hence, the exportomes currently predicted are incomplete. The nature of these exported proteins which could have a prominent role in most of the Plasmodium species remains elusive. Using P. yoelii variant proteins, we identified a signal associated to lipophilic region that mediates export of Plasmodium yoelii proteins. This non-PEXEL signal termed PLASMED is define... More
Development of the erythrocytic malaria parasite requires targeting of parasite proteins into multiple compartments located within and beyond the parasite confine. Beyond the PEXEL/VTS pathway and its characterized players, increasing amount of evidence has highlighted the existence of proteins exported using alternative export-signal(s)/pathway(s); hence, the exportomes currently predicted are incomplete. The nature of these exported proteins which could have a prominent role in most of the Plasmodium species remains elusive. Using P. yoelii variant proteins, we identified a signal associated to lipophilic region that mediates export of Plasmodium yoelii proteins. This non-PEXEL signal termed PLASMED is defined by semi-conserved residues and possibly a secondary structure. In vivo characterization of exported-proteins indicated that PLASMED is a bona fide export-signal that allowed us to identify an unseen P. yoelii exportome. The repertoire of the newly predicted exported proteins opens up perspectives for unraveling the remodeling of the host-cell by the parasite, against which new therapies could be elaborated.
