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Contractile protein system in the asexual stages of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

S. E. Webb ,
R. E. Fowler ,
C. O'Shaughnessy ,
J. C. Pinder ,
A. R. Dluzewski ,
W. B. Gratzer ,
L. H. Bannister  and
G. H. Mitchell
S. E. Webb
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE 1 9RT Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE 1 9RT
R. E. Fowler
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE 1 9RT Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE 1 9RT
C. O'Shaughnessy
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE 1 9RT
J. C. Pinder
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Muscle and Cell Motility Unit, The Randall Institute, King's College London, 26–29 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5RL
A. R. Dluzewski
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Muscle and Cell Motility Unit, The Randall Institute, King's College London, 26–29 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5RL
W. B. Gratzer
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Muscle and Cell Motility Unit, The Randall Institute, King's College London, 26–29 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5RL
L. H. Bannister
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE 1 9RT
G. H. Mitchell*
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE 1 9RT
*
‡ Corresponding author.
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Summary

F-actin was detected in asexual-stage Plasmodium falciparum parasites by fluorescence microscopy of blood films stained with fluorescent phalloidin derivatives. F-actin was present at all stages of development and appeared diffusely distributed in trophic parasites, but merozoites stained strongly at the poles and peripheries. No filament bundles could be discerned. A similar distribution was obtained by immunofluorescence with 2 polyclonal anti-actin antibodies, one of which was directed against a peptide sequence present only in parasite actin (as inferred from the DNA sequence of the gene). A monoclonal anti-actin antibody stained very mature or rupturing schizonts but not immature parasites. Myosin was identified in immunoblots of parasite protein extracts by several monoclonal anti-skeletal muscle myosin antibodies, as well as by a polyclonal antiserum directed against a consensus conserved myosin sequence (IQ motif). The identity of the polypeptides recognized by these antibodies was confirmed by overlaying blots with biotinylated F-actin. The antiserum and one of the monoclonal antibodies were used in immunofluorescence studies and were found to stain all blood-stage parasites, with maximal intensity towards the poles of merozoites. Our results are consistent with the presence of an actomyosin motor system in the blood-stage malaria parasite.

Keywords

Plasmodium falciparumcontractile systemactinmyosin.
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 112 , Issue 5 , May 1996 , pp. 451 - 457
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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