Transcription status of vaccine candidate genes of Plasmodium falciparum during the hepatic phase of its life cycle.

The CSP, EMP2/MESA, MSP2, MSP3, MSP5, RAP1, RAP2, RESA1, SERA1 and SSP2/TRAP genes of Plasmodium falciparum are vaccine candidates. The hepatic phase of the infection is of major interest due to the protection induced by immunization with radiation-attenuated sporozoites. We therefore performed RT-PCR experiments to determine whether these genes are transcribed during this phase.

A role for apical membrane antigen 1 during invasion of hepatocytes by Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites.

Plasmodium sporozoites are transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes and invade hepatocytes as a first and obligatory step of the parasite life cycle in man. Hepatocyte invasion involves proteins secreted from parasite vesicles called micronemes, the most characterized being the thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP). Here we investigated the expression and function of another microneme protein recently identified in Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites, apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA-1).

Analysis of the size distribution of first-strand cDNA molecules.

We have developed a method to analyze the size distribution of the first-strand cDNA molecules corresponding to given mRNA species. First-strand molecules synthesized from cytoplasmic polyadenylated RNAs are separated by electrophoresis on an alkaline agarose gel, and a Southern blot hybridization is performed. As an example, we analyzed the first-strand molecules corresponding to the human c-myc mRNAs.

Characterization of new human c-myc mRNA species produced by alternative splicing.

Characterization of two human c-myc cDNAs corresponding to the mRNAs 2.5 and 3.1 kb in length transcribed from P0 previously demonstrated the existence of alternative acceptor sites at the end of intron 1 and intron 2, respectively [Bentley, D.

A human homolog of the S. cerevisiae HIR1 and HIR2 transcriptional repressors cloned from the DiGeorge syndrome critical region.

The DiGeorge syndrome (DGS) is a developmental disorder affecting derivatives of the third and fourth pharyngeal pouches. DGS patients present an interstitial deletion in one of their two chromosomes 22. Cosmid DAC30 was mapped to the DGS smallest critical region.