Journal article

The direct binding of Plasmodium vivax AMA1 to erythrocytes defines a RON2-independent invasion pathway

SK Lee, LM Low, JF Andersen, LM Yeoh, PCV Leon, DR Drew, JSP Doehl, E Calvo, LH Miller, JG Beeson, K Gunalan

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | NATL ACAD SCIENCES | Published : 2023

Abstract

We used a transgenic parasite in which Plasmodium falciparum parasites were genetically modified to express Plasmodium vivax apical membrane antigen 1 (PvAMA1) protein in place of PfAMA1 to study PvAMA1-mediated invasion. In P. falciparum, AMA1 interaction with rhoptry neck protein 2 (RON2) is known to be crucial for invasion, and PfRON2 peptides (PfRON2p) blocked the invasion of PfAMA1 wild-type parasites. However, PfRON2p has no effect on the invasion of transgenic parasites expressing PvAMA1 indicating that PfRON2 had no role in the invasion of PvAMA1 transgenic parasites. Interestingly, PvRON2p blocked the invasion of PvAMA1 transgenic parasites in a dose-dependent manner. We found that ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases


Funding Acknowledgements

& nbsp;This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH.J.G.B.was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Investigator Grant 1173046) . We thank Dr. Susan K. Pierce, NIH for valuable suggestions and critical reading of the manuscript, Caroline Percopo for the help in Flow Cytometry.