Protozoan parasites that cause malaria export hundreds of proteins into their host red blood cell cytosol, and some even beyond that to the extracellular environment. These proteins have a wide range of functions that are crucial to parasite virulence and/or parasite survival in the human host. It has been thought for some time that a common link to all these proteins is the mechanism by which they are exported. Recently, we have revealed much of how this export occurs, including the discovery of a novel translocon through which exported proteins must pass. As a common portal for many essential proteins this translocon becomes a strongly validated drug target.
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Crabb, B., Bullen, H., Charnaud, S. et al. A common protein export pathway in malaria parasites. Malar J 9 (Suppl 2), I3 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-9-S2-I3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-9-S2-I3