Epigenetically regulated RNA-binding proteins signify malaria hypnozoite dormancy.

Dormancy enables relapsing malaria parasites, such as Plasmodium vivax and cynomolgi, to survive unfavorable conditions. It is enabled by hypnozoites, parasites remaining quiescent inside hepatocytes before reactivating and establishing blood-stage infection. We integrate omics approaches to explore gene-regulatory mechanisms underlying hypnozoite dormancy.

Gene-by-gene screen of the unknown proteins encoded on Plasmodium falciparum chromosome 3.

Taxon-specific proteins are key determinants defining the biology of all organisms and represent prime drug targets in pathogens. However, lacking comparability with proteins in other lineages makes them particularly difficult to study. In malaria parasites, this is exacerbated by technical limitations.

The ApiAP2 factor PfAP2-HC is an integral component of heterochromatin in the malaria parasite .

Malaria parasites undergo a complex life cycle in the human host and the mosquito vector. The ApiAP2 family of DNA-binding proteins plays a dominant role in parasite development and life cycle progression. Most ApiAP2 factors studied to date act as transcription factors regulating stage-specific gene expression.

A Kelch13-defined endocytosis pathway mediates artemisinin resistance in malaria parasites.

Artemisinin and its derivatives (ARTs) are the frontline drugs against malaria, but resistance is jeopardizing their effectiveness. ART resistance is mediated by mutations in the parasite's Kelch13 protein, but Kelch13 function and its role in resistance remain unclear. In this study, we identified proteins located at a Kelch13-defined compartment.

Epigenetic reader complexes of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

Epigenetic regulatory mechanisms are central to the development and survival of all eukaryotic organisms. These mechanisms critically depend on the marking of chromatin domains with distinctive histone tail modifications (PTMs) and their recognition by effector protein complexes. Here we used quantitative proteomic approaches to unveil interactions between PTMs and associated reader protein complexes of Plasmodium falciparum, a unicellular parasite causing malaria.

What functional genomics has taught us about transcriptional regulation in malaria parasites.

Malaria parasites are characterized by a complex life cycle that is accompanied by dynamic gene expression patterns. The factors and mechanisms that regulate gene expression in these parasites have been searched for even before the advent of next generation sequencing technologies. Functional genomics approaches have substantially boosted this area of research and have yielded significant insights into the interplay between epigenetic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms.

Chromatin Accessibility-Based Characterization of the Gene Regulatory Network Underlying Plasmodium falciparum Blood-Stage Development.

Underlying the development of malaria parasites within erythrocytes and the resulting pathogenicity is a hardwired program that secures proper timing of gene transcription and production of functionally relevant proteins. How stage-specific gene expression is orchestrated in vivo remains unclear. Here, using the assay for transposase accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq), we identified ∼4,000 regulatory regions in P.

Malaria parasites possess a telomere repeat-binding protein that shares ancestry with transcription factor IIIA.

Telomere repeat-binding factors (TRFs) are essential components of the molecular machinery that regulates telomere function. TRFs are widely conserved across eukaryotes and bind duplex telomere repeats via a characteristic MYB-type domain. Here, we identified the telomere repeat-binding protein PfTRZ in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, a member of the Alveolate phylum for which TRFs have not been described so far.

The nucleosome landscape of Plasmodium falciparum reveals chromatin architecture and dynamics of regulatory sequences.

In eukaryotes, the chromatin architecture has a pivotal role in regulating all DNA-associated processes and it is central to the control of gene expression. For Plasmodium falciparum, a causative agent of human malaria, the nucleosome positioning profile of regulatory regions deserves particular attention because of their extreme AT-content. With the aid of a highly controlled MNase-seq procedure we reveal how positioning of nucleosomes provides a structural and regulatory framework to the transcriptional unit by demarcating landmark sites (transcription/translation start and end sites).

Asymptomatic plasmodial infection is associated with increased tumor necrosis factor receptor II-expressing regulatory T cells and suppressed type 2 immune responses.

Background: In malaria-endemic areas, a proportion of individuals becomes chronic carriers of parasites with few or no clinical signs. There is little information on cellular immune responses in asymptomatic parasite carriers.

Methods: In 80 schoolchildren residing in a malaria-endemic area of Flores Island, Indonesia, T-helper subsets, regulatory T-cell (Treg) frequencies, tumor necrosis factor receptor type II (TNFRII) expression on Tregs, and cytokine responses induced by Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (RBCs) were measured, and values for asymptomatic infected subjects were compared to those for uninfected controls.