A Phosphoinositide-Binding Protein Acts in the Trafficking Pathway of Hemoglobin in the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum
Angana Mukherjee, Marie‐Ève Crochetière, Audrey Sergerie, Souad Amiar, L. Alexa Thompson, Zeinab Ebrahimzadeh, Dominic Gagnon, Florian Lauruol, Alexandra Bourgeois, Thomas Galaup, Stéphanie Roucheray, Stéphanie Hallée, Prasad K. Padmanabhan, Robert V. Stahelin, Joel B. Dacks, Dave Richard
Abstract
Malaria represents an enormous burden for a significant proportion of humanity, and the lack of vaccines and problems with drug resistance to all antimalarials demonstrate the need to develop new therapeutics. Inhibitors of phosphoinositide metabolism are currently being developed as antimalarials but our understanding of this biological pathway is incomplete. The malaria parasite lives inside human red blood cells where it imports hemoglobin to cover some of its nutritional needs. In this work, we have identified a phosphoinositide-binding protein that is important for the transport of hemoglobin in the parasite. Inactivation of this protein decreases the ability of the parasite to proliferate. Our results have therefore identified a potential new target for antimalarial development.