Plasmodium falciparum PF10_0164 (ETRAMP10.3) Is an Essential Parasitophorous Vacuole and Exported Protein in Blood Stages

Abstract

Upregulated in infectious sporozoites gene 4 (UIS4) encodes a parasitophorous vacuole membrane protein expressed in the sporozoite and liver stages of rodent malaria parasites. Parasites that lack UIS4 arrest in early liver-stage development, and vaccination of mice with uis4(-) sporozoites confers sterile protection against challenge with infectious sporozoites. Currently, it remains unclear whether an ortholog of UIS4 is carried in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, although the gene PF10_0164 has been identified as a candidate ortholog for UIS4 on the basis of synteny and structural similarity of the encoded protein. We show that PF10_0164 is expressed in sporozoites and bl..