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van Esveld SL, Meerstein‐Kessel L, Boshoven C, Baaij JF, Barylyuk K, Coolen JPM, van Strien J, Duim RAJ, Dutilh BE, Garza DR, Letterie M, Proellochs NI, de Ridder MN, Venkatasubramanian PB, de Vries LE, Waller RF, Kooij TWA, Huynen MA. A Prioritized and Validated Resource of Mitochondrial Proteins in Plasmodium Identifies Unique Biology. mSphere 2021; 6:e0061421. [PMID: 34494883 PMCID: PMC8550323 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00614-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium species have a single mitochondrion that is essential for their survival and has been successfully targeted by antimalarial drugs. Most mitochondrial proteins are imported into this organelle, and our picture of the Plasmodium mitochondrial proteome remains incomplete. Many data sources contain information about mitochondrial localization, including proteome and gene expression profiles, orthology to mitochondrial proteins from other species, coevolutionary relationships, and amino acid sequences, each with different coverage and reliability. To obtain a comprehensive, prioritized list of Plasmodium falciparum mitochondrial proteins, we rigorously analyzed and integrated eight data sets using Bayesian statistics into a predictive score per protein for mitochondrial localization. At a corrected false discovery rate of 25%, we identified 445 proteins with a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 97%. They include proteins that have not been identified as mitochondrial in other eukaryotes but have characterized homologs in bacteria that are involved in metabolism or translation. Mitochondrial localization of seven Plasmodium berghei orthologs was confirmed by epitope labeling and colocalization with a mitochondrial marker protein. One of these belongs to a newly identified apicomplexan mitochondrial protein family that in P. falciparum has four members. With the experimentally validated mitochondrial proteins and the complete ranked P. falciparum proteome, which we have named PlasmoMitoCarta, we present a resource to study unique proteins of Plasmodium mitochondria. IMPORTANCE The unique biology and medical relevance of the mitochondrion of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum have made it the subject of many studies. However, we actually do not have a comprehensive assessment of which proteins reside in this organelle. Many omics data are available that are predictive of mitochondrial localization, such as proteomics data and expression data. Individual data sets are, however, rarely complete and can provide conflicting evidence. We integrated a wide variety of available omics data in a manner that exploits the relative strengths of the data sets. Our analysis gave a predictive score for the mitochondrial localization to each nuclear encoded P. falciparum protein and identified 445 likely mitochondrial proteins. We experimentally validated the mitochondrial localization of seven of the new mitochondrial proteins, confirming the quality of the complete list. These include proteins that have not been observed mitochondria before, adding unique mitochondrial functions to P. falciparum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selma L. van Esveld
- Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Radboud Center for Mitochondrial Medicine, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Lisette Meerstein‐Kessel
- Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Cas Boshoven
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboudumc Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Jochem F. Baaij
- Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Konstantin Barylyuk
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Jordy P. M. Coolen
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboudumc Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Joeri van Strien
- Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Ronald A. J. Duim
- Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Bas E. Dutilh
- Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, Science for Life, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Daniel R. Garza
- Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology (Rega Institute), Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Marijn Letterie
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboudumc Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Nicholas I. Proellochs
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboudumc Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Michelle N. de Ridder
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboudumc Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Laura E. de Vries
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboudumc Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Ross F. Waller
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Taco W. A. Kooij
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboudumc Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Martijn A. Huynen
- Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Radboud Center for Mitochondrial Medicine, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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Warncke JD, Passecker A, Kipfer E, Brand F, Pérez-Martínez L, Proellochs NI, Kooij TWA, Butter F, Voss TS, Beck HP. The PHIST protein GEXP02 targets the host cytoskeleton during sexual development of Plasmodium falciparum. Cell Microbiol 2019; 22:e13123. [PMID: 31652487 DOI: 10.1111/cmi.13123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2019] [Revised: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 09/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
A hallmark of the biology of Plasmodium falciparum blood stage parasites is their extensive host cell remodelling, facilitated by parasite proteins that are exported into the erythrocyte. Although this area has received extensive attention, only a few exported parasite proteins have been analysed in detail, and much of this remodelling process remains unknown, particularly for gametocyte development. Recent advances to induce high rates of sexual commitment enable the production of large numbers of gametocytes. We used this approach to study the Plasmodium helical interspersed subtelomeric (PHIST) protein GEXP02, which is expressed during sexual development. We show by immunofluorescence that GEXP02 is exported to the gametocyte-infected host cell periphery. Co-immunoprecipitation revealed potential interactions between GEXP02 and components of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton as well as other exported parasite proteins. This indicates that GEXP02 targets the erythrocyte cytoskeleton and is likely involved in its remodelling. GEXP02 knock-out parasites show no obvious phenotype during gametocyte maturation, transmission through mosquitoes, and hepatocyte infection, suggesting auxiliary or redundant functions for this protein. In summary, we performed a detailed cellular and biochemical analysis of a sexual stage-specific exported parasite protein using a novel experimental approach that is broadly applicable to study the biology of P. falciparum gametocytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan D Warncke
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Armin Passecker
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Enja Kipfer
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Department of Dermatology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Françoise Brand
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Lara Pérez-Martínez
- Proteomics Core Facility, Quantitative Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Mainz, Germany
| | - Nicholas I Proellochs
- Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Taco W A Kooij
- Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Falk Butter
- Proteomics Core Facility, Quantitative Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Mainz, Germany
| | - Till S Voss
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Hans-Peter Beck
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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