Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes: still many secrets of a hidden life

被引:92
作者
Alano, Pietro [1 ]
机构
[1] Ist Super Sanita, Dipartimento Malattie Infett Parassitarie & Immun, I-00161 Rome, Italy
关键词
D O I
10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05904.x
中图分类号
Q5 [生物化学]; Q7 [分子生物学];
学科分类号
071010 ; 081704 ;
摘要
Sexual differentiation and parasite transmission are intimately linked in the life cycle of malaria parasites. The specialized cells providing this crucial link are the Plasmodium gametocytes. These are formed in the vertebrate host and are programmed to mature into gametes emerging from the erythrocytes in the midgut of a blood-feeding mosquito. The ensuing fusion into a zygote establishes parasite infection in the insect vector. Although key mechanisms of gametogenesis and fertilization are becoming progressively clear, the fundamental biology of gametocyte formation still presents open questions, some of which are specific to the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Developmental commitment to sexual differentiation, regulation of stage-specific gene expression, the profound molecular and cellular changes accompanying gametocyte specialization, the requirement for tissue-specific sequestration in P. falciparum gametocytogenesis are proposed here as areas for future investigation. The epidemiological relevance of parasite transmission from humans to mosquito in the spread of malaria and of Plasmodium drug resistance genes indicates that understanding molecular mechanisms of gametocyte formation is highly relevant to design strategies able to interfere with the transmission of this disease.
引用
收藏
页码:291 / 302
页数:12
相关论文
共 87 条
[41]   Analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum proteome by high-accuracy mass spectrometry [J].
Lasonder, E ;
Ishihama, Y ;
Andersen, JS ;
Vermunt, AMW ;
Pain, A ;
Sauerwein, RW ;
Eling, WMC ;
Hall, N ;
Waters, AP ;
Stunnenberg, HG ;
Mann, M .
NATURE, 2002, 419 (6906) :537-542
[42]   Vacuolar uptake of host components, and a role for cholesterol and sphingomyelin in malarial infection [J].
Lauer, S ;
VanWye, J ;
Harrison, T ;
McManus, H ;
Samuel, BU ;
Hiller, NL ;
Mohandas, N ;
Haldar, K .
EMBO JOURNAL, 2000, 19 (14) :3556-3564
[43]  
Le Roch K, 2005, MOLECULAR APPROACHES TO MALARIA, P68
[44]   Global analysis of transcript and protein levels across the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle [J].
Le Roch, KG ;
Johnson, JR ;
Florens, L ;
Zhou, YY ;
Santrosyan, A ;
Grainger, M ;
Yan, SF ;
Williamson, KC ;
Holder, AA ;
Carucci, DJ ;
Yates, JR ;
Winzeler, EA .
GENOME RESEARCH, 2004, 14 (11) :2308-2318
[45]   Discovery of gene function by expression profiling of the malaria parasite life cycle [J].
Le Roch, KG ;
Zhou, YY ;
Blair, PL ;
Grainger, M ;
Moch, JK ;
Haynes, JD ;
De la Vega, P ;
Holder, AA ;
Batalov, S ;
Carucci, DJ ;
Winzeler, EA .
SCIENCE, 2003, 301 (5639) :1503-1508
[46]   Disruption of the Pfg27 locus by homologous recombination leads to loss of the sexual phenotype in P-falciparum [J].
Lobo, CA ;
Fujioka, H ;
Aikawa, M ;
Kumar, N .
MOLECULAR CELL, 1999, 3 (06) :793-798
[47]   Regulation of sexual development of Plasmodium by translational repression [J].
Mair, Gunnar R. ;
Braks, Joanna A. M. ;
Garver, Lindsey S. ;
Wiegant, Loop C. A. G. ;
Hall, Neil ;
Dirks, Roeland W. ;
Khan, Shahid M. ;
Dimopoulos, George ;
Janse, Chris J. ;
Waters, Andrew P. .
SCIENCE, 2006, 313 (5787) :667-669
[48]   Distinct trafficking and localization of STEVOR proteins in three stages of the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle [J].
McRobert, L ;
Preiser, P ;
Sharp, S ;
Jarra, W ;
Kaviratne, M ;
Taylor, MC ;
Renia, L ;
Sutherland, CJ .
INFECTION AND IMMUNITY, 2004, 72 (11) :6597-6602
[49]   Set regulation in asexual and sexual Plasmodium parasites reveals a novel mechanism of stage-specific expression [J].
Pace, T ;
Olivieri, A ;
Sanchez, M ;
Albanesi, V ;
Picci, L ;
Kiamos, IS ;
Janse, CJ ;
Waters, AP ;
Pizzi, E ;
Ponzi, M .
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, 2006, 60 (04) :870-882
[50]   STRUCTURE AND EXPRESSION OF A POSTTRANSCRIPTIONALLY REGULATED MALARIA GENE ENCODING A SURFACE PROTEIN FROM THE SEXUAL STAGES OF PLASMODIUM-BERGHEI [J].
PATON, MG ;
BARKER, GC ;
MATSUOKA, H ;
RAMESAR, J ;
JANSE, CJ ;
WATERS, AP ;
SINDEN, RE .
MOLECULAR AND BIOCHEMICAL PARASITOLOGY, 1993, 59 (02) :263-275