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A novel Plasmodium falciparum gene, MB2, was identified by screening a sporozoite cDNA library with the serum of a human volunteer protected experimentally by the bites of P. falciparum-infected and irradiated mosquitoes. The single-exon, single-copy MB2 gene is predicted to encode a protein with an M(r) of 187,000. The MB2 protein has an amino-terminal basic domain, a central acidic domain, and a carboxyl-terminal domain with similarity to the GTP-binding domain of the prokaryotic translation initiation factor 2. MB2 is expressed in sporozoites, the liver, and blood-stage parasites and gametocytes. The MB2 protein is distributed as a approximately 120-kDa moiety on the surface of sporozoites and is imported into the nucleus of blood-stage parasites as a approximately 66-kDa species. Proteolytic processing is favored as the mechanism regulating the distinct subcellular localization of the MB2 protein. This differential localization provides multiple opportunities to exploit the MB2 gene product as a vaccine or therapeutic target.

Original publication

DOI

10.1074/jbc.M103375200

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Biol Chem

Publication Date

13/07/2001

Volume

276

Pages

26724 - 26731

Keywords

Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Cloning, Molecular, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Genes, Protozoan, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Plasmodium falciparum, Protozoan Proteins, Sequence Alignment