Pathogens, Volume 12, Issue 10
2023 October - 87 articles
Cover Story: Malaria parasites in the Plasmodium genus are successful pathogens that replicate within vertebrate erythrocytes to escape host immunity and access hemoglobin as an amino acid source. Because intracellular growth limits access to essential nutrients in host plasma, these parasites insert an unusual nutrient and ion channel into their host’s erythrocyte membrane. This plasmodial surface anion channel (PSAC) and its parasite-derived subunits (CLAG3, RhopH2, and RhopH3) are conserved in all examined Plasmodium spp. Remarkably, while PSAC allows the uptake of diverse nutrients, anions, organic cations and some toxins, it must exclude the small Na+ ion to preserve host cell osmotic stability. We review the most unusual properties of this unusual microbial ion channel, which is an important target for antimalarial therapy development. View this paper - Issues are regarded as officially published after their release is announced to the table of contents alert mailing list .
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