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Fluorescent tagging of Plasmodium circumsporozoite protein allows imaging of sporozoite formation but blocks egress from oocysts.

Authors :
Singer M
Frischknecht F
Source :
Cellular microbiology [Cell Microbiol] 2021 May; Vol. 23 (5), pp. e13321. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Mar 15.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

The circumsporozoite protein, CSP, is the major surface protein of Plasmodium sporozoites, the form of malaria parasites transmitted by mosquitoes. CSP is involved in sporozoite formation within and egress from oocysts, entry into mosquito salivary glands and mammalian liver as well as migration in the skin. Yet, how CSP facilitates sporozoite formation, oocyst egress and hepatocyte specific invasion is still not fully understood. Here, we aimed at generating a series of parasites expressing full-length versions of CSP with internally inserted green fluorescent protein between known domains at the endogenous csp locus. This enabled the investigation of sporozoite formation in living oocysts. GFP insertion after the signal peptide leads to cleavage of GFP before the fusion protein reached the plasma membrane while insertion of GFP before or after the TSR domain prevented sporozoite egress and liver invasion. These data suggest different strategies for obtaining mature salivary gland sporozoites that express GFP-CSP fusions.<br /> (© 2021 The Authors. Cellular Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1462-5822
Volume :
23
Issue :
5
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Cellular microbiology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
33600048
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/cmi.13321