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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology
A NIMA-related protein kinase is essential for completion of the sexual cycle of malaria parasites
Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 280, No. 36, Year 2005
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Description
The molecular mechanisms regulating the sexual development of malaria parasites from gametocytes to oocysts in their mosquito vector are still largely unexplored. In other eukaryotes, NIMA-related kinases (Neks) regulate cell cycle progression and have been implicated in the regulation of meiosis. Here, we demonstrate that Nek-4, a new Plasmodium member of the Nek family, is essential for completion of the sexual cycle of the parasite. Recombinant Plasmodium falciparum Nek-4 possesses protein kinase activity and displays substrate preferences similar to those of other Neks. Nek-4 is highly expressed in gametocytes, yet disruption of the nek-4 gene in the rodent malaria parasite P. berghei has no effect on gamete formation and subsequent fertilization. However, further differentiation of zygotes into ookinetes is abolished. Measurements of nuclear DNA content indicate that zygotes lacking Nek-4 fail to undergo the genome replication to the tetraploid level that precedes meiosis. Cell cycle progression in the zygote is identified as a likely precondition for its morphological transition to the ookinete and for the successful establishment of a malaria infection in the mosquito. © 2005 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
Authors & Co-Authors
Reininger, Luc
United Kingdom, Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Billker, Oliver
United Kingdom, London
Imperial College London
Tewari, Rita
United Kingdom, London
Imperial College London
Mukhopadhyay, Arunima
United Kingdom, Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Fennell, Clare
United Kingdom, Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Dorin-Semblat, Dominique
United Kingdom, Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Doerig, Caroline M.
United Kingdom, Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Goldring, J. P.Dean
South Africa, Durban
University of Kwazulu-natal
Harmse, Leonie
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Ranford-Cartwright, Lisa C.
United Kingdom, Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Packer, Jeremy
United States, Chicago
Abbott Laboratories
Doerig, Christian D.
United Kingdom, Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Statistics
Citations: 152
Authors: 12
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1074/jbc.M504523200
ISSN:
00219258
Research Areas
Cancer
Genetics And Genomics
Infectious Diseases
Sexual And Reproductive Health