Publication
Normocyte-binding protein required for human erythrocyte invasion by the zoonotic malaria parasite
Plasmodium knowlesi
Publisher:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date:
14-06-2016
DOI:
10.1073/PNAS.1522469113
Abstract: Plasmodium knowlesi is a parasite that naturally infects cynomolgus monkeys but is also a major cause of severe zoonotic malaria in humans in South East Asia. Comparing the genomes of parasites restricted to growth in culture with cynomolgus RBCs and those adapted to growth in human RBCs identified a gene specifically required for invasion of human RBCs, a process that is critical for parasite replication. This gene encodes normocyte-binding protein Xa, a protein previously shown to bind human RBCs and implicated in invasion. Disruption of this gene blocks invasion of human but not cynomolgus RBCs, thus confirming a key mediator of human infection and a potential target for inclusion in vaccines to prevent human infection.