Identification of Selective Inhibitors of N-Myristoyltransferase by High-Throughput Screening.

New drugs that target species, the causative agents of malaria, are needed. The enzyme -myristoyltransferase (NMT) is an essential protein, which catalyzes the myristoylation of protein substrates, often to mediate membrane targeting. We screened ∼1.

Reticulocyte-prone malaria parasites predominantly invade CD71hi immature cells: implications for the development of an in vitro culture for Plasmodium vivax.

Background: The lack of a continuous in vitro culture system for blood stages of malarial parasites with a unique tropism for reticulocytes, such as Plasmodium vivax and the Plasmodium yoelii 17X reticulocyte-prone strain, hinders research in these organisms. The maturation of reticulocytes into erythrocytes is a complex process involving the selective removal of membrane proteins such as the transferrin receptor, CD71. In order to advance in the characterization of infected cells during experimental infections of BALB/c mice with P.