The characterization of adaptor protein homologues in Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum is becoming increasingly more resistant to regular antimalarial drugs, making it necessary to identify novel drug candidates and drug targets. Components of the endocytic and secretory pathway in asexual stage parasites are attractive targets because they play a fundamental role in the normal processes of parasite metabolism. Adaptor protein complexes are components of protein coats that associate with transport vesicles of the endocytic and secretory pathways in mammalian cells. Homologues of several adaptor protein subunits are encoded by the parasite genome. The presence of these genes suggests that the parasite experiences clathrin-mediated transport processes. This study reports the cloning and characterization of selected malarial homologues of these adaptor proteins, namely three medium (μ) chain adaptin homologues and two sigma (σ) chains.