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A highly conserved amino-acid sequence in thrombospondin, properdin and in proteins from sporozoites and blood stages of a human malaria parasite

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Abstract

As a consequence of gene cloning and DNA sequencing several gene families are emerging in the field of cell–cell recognition. These include immunoglobulins, integrins, certain extracellular glycoproteins1 and a family of functionally unrelated proteins which include factor B2. We report here the cloning and sequencing of a gene from Plasmodium falciparum, coding for a protein we call thrombospondin related anonymous protein (TRAP), which shares certain sequence motifs common to other well-characterized proteins. The most significant homology is based around the sequence Trp-Ser-Pro-Cys-Ser-Val-Thr-Cys-Gly (WSPCSVTCG), present in three copies in region I of thrombospondin (TSP)3, six copies in properdin4 (P) and one copy in all the circumsporozoite (CS) proteins5–10 sequenced so far. TRAP also shares with certain extracellular glycoproteins, including TSP, the cell-recognition signal Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)11, which has been shown to be crucial in the interaction of several extracellular glycoproteins with members of the integrin superfamily. Unlike the CS protein, TRAP is expressed during the erythrocytic stage of the parasite life cycle.

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Author notes

  1. Valerie E. Tate

    Present address: Cancer Research Campaign Developmental Tumours Research Group, Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PF, UK

  2. T. J. R. Harris: Molecular Biology, Celltech Limited, 216 Bath Road, Slough, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Molecular Haematology and Tropical Medicine Units, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

    Kathryn J. H. Robson, Jennifer R. S. Hall, M. W. Jennings, T. J. R. Harris, K. Marsh, C. I. Newbold, Valerie E. Tate & D. J. Weatherall

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  1. Kathryn J. H. Robson
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  2. Jennifer R. S. Hall
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  3. M. W. Jennings
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  4. T. J. R. Harris
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Robson, K., Hall, J., Jennings, M. et al. A highly conserved amino-acid sequence in thrombospondin, properdin and in proteins from sporozoites and blood stages of a human malaria parasite. Nature 335, 79–82 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/335079a0

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