ArticleNature2014
PTEX is an essential nexus for protein export in malaria parasites.
Article in Nature, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 161 papers.
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Who cites it
161 citing papers in PubMed.
- Plasmepsins as Antimalarial Drug Targets-Then, Now, and the Future.Medicinal research reviews · 2026Review
- Unpacking boxes: identification of novel inhibitors of malaria parasite invasion.International journal for parasitology. Drugs and drug resistance · 2026Article
- Article
- G6PD deficiency and the exportome of plasmodium falciparum FCB-2: A comparative analysis utilizing one-dimensional blue-native electrophoresis and timstof mass spectrometry.Parasitology research · 2026Article
- Controlled human malaria infection in adults identify combinations of merozoite antigens associated with clinical immunity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Targeting protein-protein interactions in Plasmodium: from asexual replication to sexual development.Parasites & vectors · 2026Review
- Mechanisms of PfDNMT2 inhibition and PfATP6-mediated resistance to the antimalarial candidate SC83288 in Plasmodium falciparum.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 3 (EMAP3) Is Exposed on the Surface of the Plasmodium berghei Infected Red Blood Cell.Molecular microbiology · 2026Article
- Targeting Infected Host Cell Heme Metabolism to Kill Malaria Parasites.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- An overview of the interconnectedness of the PEXEL and non-PEXEL mediated protein export iniScience · 2025Review
- A Systematic Targeted Genetic Screen Identifies Proteins Involved in Cytoadherence of the Malaria Parasite P. falciparum.Molecular microbiology · 2025Article
- Deep learning image analysis for continuous single-cell imaging of dynamic processes in Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Flp/Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Trx4, a novel thioredoxin protein, is important for Toxoplasma gondii fitness.Parasites & vectors · 2024Article
- Article
- Novel Ion Channel Genes in Malaria Parasites.Genes · 2024Review
- Article
- Sequence elements within the PEXEL motif and its downstream region modulate PTEX-dependent protein export in Plasmodium falciparum.Traffic (Copenhagen, Denmark) · 2024Article
- Toxoplasma protein export and effector function.Nature microbiology · 2024Review
101 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
During the blood stages of malaria, several hundred parasite-encoded proteins are exported beyond the double-membrane barrier that separates the parasite from the host cell cytosol. These proteins have a variety of roles that are essential to virulence or parasite growth. There is keen interest in understanding how proteins are exported and whether common machineries are involved in trafficking the different classes of exported proteins. One potential trafficking machine is a protein complex known as the Plasmodium translocon of exported proteins (PTEX). Although PTEX has been linked to the export of one class of exported proteins, there has been no direct evidence for its role and scope in protein translocation. Here we show, through the generation of two parasite lines defective for essential PTEX components (HSP101 or PTEX150), and analysis of a line lacking the non-essential component TRX2 (ref. 12), greatly reduced trafficking of all classes of exported proteins beyond the double membrane barrier enveloping the parasite. This includes proteins containing the PEXEL motif (RxLxE/Q/D) and PEXEL-negative exported proteins (PNEPs). Moreover, the export of proteins destined for expression on the infected erythrocyte surface, including the major virulence factor PfEMP1 in Plasmodium falciparum, was significantly reduced in PTEX knockdown parasites. PTEX function was also essential for blood-stage growth, because even a modest knockdown of PTEX components had a strong effect on the parasite's capacity to complete the erythrocytic cycle both in vitro and in vivo. Hence, as the only known nexus for protein export in Plasmodium parasites, and an essential enzymic machine, PTEX is a prime drug target.
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