1. Academic Validation
  2. Gene expression signatures and small-molecule compounds link a protein kinase to Plasmodium falciparum motility

Gene expression signatures and small-molecule compounds link a protein kinase to Plasmodium falciparum motility

  • Nat Chem Biol. 2008 Jun;4(6):347-56. doi: 10.1038/nchembio.87.
Nobutaka Kato 1 Tomoyo Sakata Ghislain Breton Karine G Le Roch Advait Nagle Carsten Andersen Badry Bursulaya Kerstin Henson Jeffrey Johnson Kota Arun Kumar Felix Marr Daniel Mason Case McNamara David Plouffe Vandana Ramachandran Muriel Spooner Tove Tuntland Yingyao Zhou Eric C Peters Arnab Chatterjee Peter G Schultz Gary E Ward Nathanael Gray Jeffrey Harper Elizabeth A Winzeler
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, ICND202 La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Abstract

Calcium-dependent protein kinases play a crucial role in intracellular calcium signaling in Plants, some algae and protozoa. In Plasmodium falciparum, calcium-dependent protein kinase 1 (PfCDPK1) is expressed during schizogony in the erythrocytic stage as well as in the sporozoite stage. It is coexpressed with genes that encode the Parasite motor complex, a cellular component required for Parasite invasion of host cells, Parasite motility and potentially cytokinesis. A targeted gene-disruption approach demonstrated that pfcdpk1 seems to be essential for Parasite viability. An in vitro biochemical screen using recombinant PfCDPK1 against a library of 20,000 compounds resulted in the identification of a series of structurally related 2,6,9-trisubstituted purines. Compound treatment caused sudden developmental arrest at the late schizont stage in P. falciparum and a large reduction in intracellular parasites in Toxoplasma gondii, which suggests a possible role for PfCDPK1 in regulation of Parasite motility during egress and invasion.

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