Browsing by Subject "Export"

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    Host-targeting of virulence determinants and phosphoinositides in blood stage malaria parasites
    (Elsevier, 2012) Bhattacharjee, Souvik; Stahelin, Robert V.; Haldar, Kasturi; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine
    Blood stage malaria parasites target a 'secretome' of hundreds of proteins including virulence determinants containing a host (cell) targeting (HT) signal, to human erythrocytes. Recent studies reveal that the export mechanism is due to the HT signal binding to the lipid phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate [PI(3)P] in the parasite endoplasmic reticulum (ER). An aspartic protease plasmepsin V which cleaves a specialized form of the HT signal was previously thought to be the export mechanism, but is now recognized as a dedicated peptidase that cleaves the signal anchor subsequent to PI(3)P binding. We discuss a model of PI(3)P-dependent targeting and PI(3)P biology of a major human pathogen.