Transport proteins of Plasmodium falciparum:: defining the limits of metabolism

In this review we give an account of transport processes occurring at the membrane interface that separates the asexual stage of Plasmodium falciparum from its host, the infected erythrocyte, and also describe proteins whose activities may be important at this location. We explain the potential clinical value of such studies in the light of the current spread of parasite resistance to conventional antimalarial strategies. We discuss the uptake of substrates critical to the survival of the intracellular malaria parasite, and also the parasite's homeostatic and disposal mechanisms. The use of the Xenopus laevis expression system in the characterisation of a hexose transporter ('PfHT1') and a Ca2+ ATPase ('PfATP4') of the parasite plasma membrane are described in detail. (C) 2001 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.