Protein export from Plasmodium parasites

Many prokaryotic and eukaryotic intracellular pathogens survive by altering the host cell through the export of proteins. In contrast to the well-studied prokaryotic export systems, knowledge of protein export in eukaryotic pathogens is scant. The recent discovery that a short protein sequence targets a protein for export from the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has shed light on the possible mechanism of proteins export and has allowed the preliminary identification of several hundred exported proteins. Among the exported proteins are the members of the paralogous protein families, previously identified exported proteins and many uncharacterized proteins. The interaction of the parasite with the host cell is thus much more complex, and involves more parasite proteins, than previously thought.