Plasmepsins IX and X are essential and druggable mediators of malaria parasite egress and invasion (original) (raw)
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A multistage antimalarial targets the plasmepsins IX and X essential for invasion and egress
Science
Plasmodium parasite entrance and exit Sweats and fever are the hallmarks of malaria. Red blood cells are the replication factories for malaria parasites. Fever occurs when the parasites' merozoite stages burst en masse from red blood cells into the circulation. Nasamu et al. and Pino et al. discovered that two parasite proteases, plasmepsin IX and X, are essential for mass cell exit (see the Perspective by Boddey). Plasmepsin X is also used by the merozoites to enter a fresh red blood cell to continue the replicative cycle. These two plasmepsins act by regulating the maturation of enzymes required to disrupt host cell membranes. Because these functions are essential for the parasite, the authors used protease inhibitors to show that plasmepsins provide potential drug targets. Science , this issue p. 518 , p. 522 ; see also p. 445
ACS Infectious Diseases, 2018
published as an ASAP article. Note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the manuscript text and/or graphics which could affect content, and all legal disclaimers and ethical guidelines that apply to the journal pertain. ACS cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in these "Just Accepted" manuscripts. Fast-acting small molecules targeting malarial aspartyl proteases, plasmepsins, inhibit malaria infection at multiple life stages
An Aspartyl Protease Directs Malaria Effector Proteins to the Host Cell
Nature, 2010
Plasmodium falciparum causes the virulent form of malaria and disease manifestations are linked to growth inside infected erythrocytes. To survive and evade host responses the parasite remodels the erythrocyte by exporting several hundred effector proteins beyond the surrounding parasitophorous vacuole membrane. A feature of exported proteins is a pentameric motif (RxLxE/Q/D) that is a substrate for an unknown protease. Here we show that the protein responsible for cleavage of this motif is plasmepsin V (PMV), an aspartic acid protease located in the endoplasmic reticulum. PMV cleavage reveals the export signal (xE/Q/D) at the amino terminus of cargo proteins. Expression of an identical mature protein with xQ at the N terminus generated by signal peptidase was not exported, demonstrating that PMV activity is essential and linked with other key export events. Identification of the protease responsible for export into erythrocytes provides a novel target for therapeutic intervention against this devastating disease.
Plasmepsin V, an essential aspartyl protease of malaria parasites, has a key role in the export of effector proteins to parasite-infected erythrocytes. Consequently, it is an important drug target for the two most virulent malaria parasites of humans, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. We developed a potent inhibitor of plasmepsin V, called WEHI-842, which directly mimics the Plasmodium export element (PEXEL). WEHI-842 inhibits recombinant plasmepsin V with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 0.2 nM, efficiently blocks protein export and inhibits parasite growth. We obtained the structure of P. vivax plasmepsin V in complex with WEHI-842 to 2.4-Å resolution, which provides an explanation for the strict requirements for substrate and inhibitor binding. The structure characterizes both a plant-like fold and a malaria-specific helix-turn-helix motif that are likely to be important in cleavage of effector substrates for export.
A Multifunctional Serine Protease Primes the Malaria Parasite for Red Blood Cell Invasion
The EMBO …, 2009
The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum replicates within an intraerythrocytic parasitophorous vacuole (PV). Rupture of the host cell allows release (egress) of daughter merozoites, which invade fresh erythrocytes. We previously showed that a subtilisin-like protease called PfSUB1 regulates egress by being discharged into the PV in the final stages of merozoite development to proteolytically modify the SERA family of papain-like proteins. Here, we report that PfSUB1 has a further role in ‘priming' the merozoite prior to invasion. The major protein complex on the merozoite surface comprises three proteins called merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1), MSP6 and MSP7. We show that just before egress, all undergo proteolytic maturation by PfSUB1. Inhibition of PfSUB1 activity results in the accumulation of unprocessed MSPs on the merozoite surface, and erythrocyte invasion is significantly reduced. We propose that PfSUB1 is a multifunctional processing protease with an essential role in both egress of the malaria merozoite and remodelling of its surface in preparation for erythrocyte invasion.
Nature Communications
Plasmodium falciparum causes the most severe form of malaria in humans. The protozoan parasite develops within erythrocytes to mature schizonts, that contain more than 16 merozoites, which egress and invade fresh erythrocytes. The aspartic protease plasmepsin X (PMX), processes proteins and proteases essential for merozoite egress from the schizont and invasion of the host erythrocyte, including the leading vaccine candidate PfRh5. PfRh5 is anchored to the merozoite surface through a 5-membered complex (PCRCR), consisting of Plasmodium thrombospondin-related apical merozoite protein, cysteine-rich small secreted protein, Rh5-interacting protein and cysteine-rich protective antigen. Here, we show that PCRCR is processed by PMX in micronemes to remove the N-terminal prodomain of PhRh5 and this activates the function of the complex unmasking a form that can bind basigin on the erythrocyte membrane and mediate merozoite invasion. The ability to activate PCRCR at a specific time in meroz...
PLoS Biology, 2014
The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum exports several hundred proteins into the infected erythrocyte that are involved in cellular remodeling and severe virulence. The export mechanism involves the Plasmodium export element (PEXEL), which is a cleavage site for the parasite protease, Plasmepsin V (PMV). The PMV gene is refractory to deletion, suggesting it is essential, but definitive proof is lacking. Here, we generated a PEXEL-mimetic inhibitor that potently blocks the activity of PMV isolated from P. falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Assessment of PMV activity in P. falciparum revealed PEXEL cleavage occurs cotranslationaly, similar to signal peptidase. Treatment of P. falciparum–infected erythrocytes with the inhibitor caused dose-dependent inhibition of PEXEL processing as well as protein export, including impaired display of the major virulence adhesin, PfEMP1, on the erythrocyte surface, and cytoadherence. The inhibitor killed parasites at the trophozoite stage and knockdown of PMV enhanced sensitivity to the inhibitor, while overexpression of PMV increased resistance. This provides the first direct evidence that PMV activity is essential for protein export in Plasmodium spp. and for parasite survival in human erythrocytes and validates PMV as an antimalarial drug target.
Plasmodium Proteases as Therapeutic Targets Against Malaria
2017
Malaria is a major global parasitic disease responsible for tremendous health burden and mortality in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of severe malaria, which accounts for most of the global malaria-related deaths, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the enormous global efforts to curb the spread of the disease and significant decline in malaria-related deaths in the last decade, development of parasite resistance to currently used drugs is widespread, which necessitates the development of novel antimalarial targeting crucial parasite molecules. Parasite proteases are a group of molecules crucial for the development and propagation of the parasite inside the host cell. The major parasite-specific processes dependent on protease activity for their completion are hemoglobin degradation, merozoite egress from the host cell, and invasion of the host cells. A number of proteases of various classes are found in P. falciparum, m...