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Cárdenas P, Esherick LY, Chambonnier G, Dey S, Turlo CV, Nasamu AS, Niles JC. GeneTargeter: Automated In Silico Design for Genome Editing in the Malaria Parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. CRISPR J 2022; 5:155-164. [PMID: 35191751 PMCID: PMC8892962 DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2021.0069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional characterization of the multitude of poorly described proteins in the human malarial pathogen, Plasmodium falciparum, requires tools to enable genome-scale perturbation studies. Here, we present GeneTargeter (genetargeter.mit.edu), a software tool for automating the design of homology-directed repair donor vectors to achieve gene knockouts, conditional knockdowns, and epitope tagging of P. falciparum genes. We demonstrate GeneTargeter-facilitated genome-scale design of six different types of knockout and conditional knockdown constructs for the P. falciparum genome and validate the computational design process experimentally with successful donor vector assembly and transfection. The software's modular nature accommodates arbitrary destination vectors and allows customizable designs that extend the genome manipulation outcomes attainable in Plasmodium and other organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Cárdenas
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Lisl Y. Esherick
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Gaël Chambonnier
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sumanta Dey
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Christopher V. Turlo
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Armiyaw Sebastian Nasamu
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jacquin C. Niles
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,Address correspondence to: Jacquin C. Niles, MD, PhD, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 56-341, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA,
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Patarroyo MA, Arévalo-Pinzón G, Moreno-Pérez DA. From a basic to a functional approach for developing a blood stage vaccine against Plasmodium vivax. Expert Rev Vaccines 2020; 19:195-207. [PMID: 32077349 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2020.1733421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Numerous challenges have hampered developing an anti-malarial vaccine against the most widespread malarial parasite worldwide: Plasmodium vivax. Despite the progress achieved in studying proteins in short-term in vitro culture or in experimental models, there is still no clear method for defining which antigens or their regions should be prioritized for including them in a vaccine.Areas covered: The methods used by research groups so far which have focused on the functional analysis of P. vivax blood stage antigens have been reviewed here. A logical strategy orientated toward resolving two of the most commonly occurring problems in designing vaccines against this species has thus been proposed (i.e. the search for candidates and evaluating/ascertaining their functional role in the invasion of such molecules).Expert commentary: Advances in knowledge regarding P. vivax biology have been extremely slow. Only two key receptor-ligand interactions concerning merozoite entry to reticulocytes have been reported during the last 20 years: PvDBP1-DARC and PvRBP2b-CD71. Despite increasing knowledge about the parasite's intimate preference for its host cells, it has yet to be determined which regions of the merozoite molecules characterized to date meet the requirement of inducing protective immune responses effectively blocking heterologous parasite entry to human cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Alfonso Patarroyo
- Molecular Biology and Immunology Department, Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Bogotá D.C., Colombia.,School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá D.C., Colombia
| | - Gabriela Arévalo-Pinzón
- School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.,Receptor-Ligand Department, Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Bogotá D.C., Colombia
| | - Darwin A Moreno-Pérez
- Molecular Biology and Immunology Department, Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Bogotá D.C., Colombia.,School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.,Livestock Sciences Faculty, Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas Y Ambientales (U.D.C.A), Bogotá DC, Colombia
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Birnbaum J, Flemming S, Reichard N, Soares AB, Mesén-Ramírez P, Jonscher E, Bergmann B, Spielmann T. A genetic system to study Plasmodium falciparum protein function. Nat Methods 2017; 14:450-456. [DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.4223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 170] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2016] [Accepted: 02/06/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Tools for attenuation of gene expression in malaria parasites. Int J Parasitol 2017; 47:385-398. [PMID: 28153780 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2016] [Revised: 09/15/2016] [Accepted: 11/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
An understanding of the biology of Plasmodium parasites, which are the causative agents of the disease malaria, requires study of gene function. Various reverse genetic tools have been described for determining gene function. These tools can be broadly grouped as trans- and cis-acting. Trans-acting tools control gene functions through synthetic nucleic acid probe molecules matching the sequence of the gene of interest. Once delivered to the parasite, the probe engages with the mRNA of the target gene and attenuates its function. Cis-acting tools control gene function through elements introduced into the gene of interest by DNA transfection. The expression of the modified gene can be controlled using external agents, typically small molecule ligands. In this review, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these tools to guide researchers in selecting the appropriate tool for studies of gene function, and for guiding future refinements of these tools.
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Hallée S, Richard D. Evidence that the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum Putative Rhoptry Protein 2 Localizes to the Golgi Apparatus throughout the Erythrocytic Cycle. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0138626. [PMID: 26375591 PMCID: PMC4574476 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2015] [Accepted: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Invasion of a red blood cell by Plasmodium falciparum merozoites is an essential step in the malaria lifecycle. Several of the proteins involved in this process are stored in the apical complex of the merozoite, a structure containing secretory organelles that are released at specific times during invasion. The molecular players involved in erythrocyte invasion thus represent potential key targets for both therapeutic and vaccine-based strategies to block parasite development. In our quest to identify and characterize new effectors of invasion, we investigated the P. falciparum homologue of a P. berghei protein putatively localized to the rhoptries, the Putative rhoptry protein 2 (PbPRP2). We show that in P. falciparum, the protein colocalizes extensively with the Golgi apparatus across the asexual erythrocytic cycle. Furthermore, imaging of merozoites caught at different times during invasion show that PfPRP2 is not secreted during the process instead staying associated with the Golgi apparatus. Our evidence therefore suggests that PfPRP2 is a Golgi protein and that it is likely not a direct effector in the process of merozoite invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphanie Hallée
- Centre de recherche en infectiologie, CHU-Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
| | - Dave Richard
- Centre de recherche en infectiologie, CHU-Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
- * E-mail:
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Mitochondrial ATP synthase is dispensable in blood-stage Plasmodium berghei rodent malaria but essential in the mosquito phase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:10216-23. [PMID: 25831536 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1423959112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mitochondrial ATP synthase is driven by chemiosmotic oxidation of pyruvate derived from glycolysis. Blood-stage malaria parasites eschew chemiosmosis, instead relying almost solely on glycolysis for their ATP generation, which begs the question of whether mitochondrial ATP synthase is necessary during the blood stage of the parasite life cycle. We knocked out the mitochondrial ATP synthase β subunit gene in the rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium berghei, ablating the protein that converts ADP to ATP. Disruption of the β subunit gene of the ATP synthase only marginally reduced asexual blood-stage parasite growth but completely blocked mouse-to-mouse transmission via Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes. Parasites lacking the β subunit gene of the ATP synthase generated viable gametes that fuse and form ookinetes but cannot progress beyond this stage. Ookinetes lacking the β subunit gene of the ATP synthase had normal motility but were not viable in the mosquito midgut and never made oocysts or sporozoites, thereby abrogating transmission to naive mice via mosquito bite. We crossed the self-infertile ATP synthase β subunit knockout parasites with a male-deficient, self-infertile strain of P. berghei, which restored fertility and production of oocysts and sporozoites, which demonstrates that mitochondrial ATP synthase is essential for ongoing viability through the female, mitochondrion-carrying line of sexual reproduction in P. berghei malaria. Perturbation of ATP synthase completely blocks transmission to the mosquito vector and could potentially be targeted for disease control.
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Abstract
Post-translational modifications play crucial parts in regulating protein function and thereby control several fundamental aspects of eukaryotic biology, including cell signalling, protein trafficking, epigenetic control of gene expression, cell-cell interactions, and cell proliferation and differentiation. In this Review, we discuss protein modifications that have been shown to have a key role in malaria parasite biology and pathogenesis. We focus on phosphorylation, acetylation, methylation and lipidation. We provide an overview of the biological significance of these modifications and discuss prospects and progress in antimalarial drug discovery based on the inhibition of the enzymes that mediate these modifications.
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