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<p>All symptoms of malaria are caused during the replication of the parasite <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> in human red blood cells. The parasite digests the host cell cytoplasm in its food vacuole, a pathway of particular interest as drug target. The Vps34-type PI3-kinase in <i>P. falciparum</i> produces PI3-monophophate (PI3P) and has been linked to haemoglobin digestion, to resistance to the current first line antimalarial artemisinin and to biology of the apicoplast. Here we dissect the functions of <i>Pf</i>PI3-kinase by inducible deletion of its gene using the <i>loxP</i>-DiCre system and find that <i>Pf</i>PI3-kinase is essential for parasite survival. Mutant parasites accumulate undigested haemoglobin (Hb) confirming a defect in the pathway of Hb uptake and digestion, the most likely reason for parasite death. Some parasites are affected in apicoplast inheritance demonstrating that PI3P-dependent processes are important for apicoplast biology in <i>P. falciparum</i>. Finally, we discover that in PI3-kinase mutant parasites carrying a mutation conferring resistance to artemisinin, the lower amounts of PI3P correlate with lower levels of artemisinin resistance. We suggest that the reduced levels of PI3P in the PI3-kinase mutant dampen repair mechanisms like the autophagic processes normally associated with Kelch13 mutations, leading to a proteotoxic stress and to an increase in susceptibility to artemisinin.</p>

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PI3-kinase has multiple functions in asexual blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年5月14日

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  • Reem Al Monla,
  • Maria Penzo,
  • Alice Vallentin,
  • Rakhee Lohia,
  • Jeremy Vincent,
  • Laurence Berry,
  • Ana Rita Gomes,
  • Rachel Cerdan,
  • Kai Wengelnik

摘要

All symptoms of malaria are caused during the replication of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum in human red blood cells. The parasite digests the host cell cytoplasm in its food vacuole, a pathway of particular interest as drug target. The Vps34-type PI3-kinase in P. falciparum produces PI3-monophophate (PI3P) and has been linked to haemoglobin digestion, to resistance to the current first line antimalarial artemisinin and to biology of the apicoplast. Here we dissect the functions of PfPI3-kinase by inducible deletion of its gene using the loxP-DiCre system and find that PfPI3-kinase is essential for parasite survival. Mutant parasites accumulate undigested haemoglobin (Hb) confirming a defect in the pathway of Hb uptake and digestion, the most likely reason for parasite death. Some parasites are affected in apicoplast inheritance demonstrating that PI3P-dependent processes are important for apicoplast biology in P. falciparum. Finally, we discover that in PI3-kinase mutant parasites carrying a mutation conferring resistance to artemisinin, the lower amounts of PI3P correlate with lower levels of artemisinin resistance. We suggest that the reduced levels of PI3P in the PI3-kinase mutant dampen repair mechanisms like the autophagic processes normally associated with Kelch13 mutations, leading to a proteotoxic stress and to an increase in susceptibility to artemisinin.