A stem cell strategy identifies glycophorin C as a major erythrocyte receptor for the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei

Yiangou, L., Montandon, R., Modrzynska, K. , Rosen, B., Bushell, W., Hale, C., Billker, O., Rayner, J. C. and Pance, A. (2016) A stem cell strategy identifies glycophorin C as a major erythrocyte receptor for the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. PLoS ONE, 11(6), e0158238. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158238) (PMID:27362409) (PMCID:PMC4928779)

Abstract

The clinical complications of malaria are caused by the parasite expansion in the blood. Invasion of erythrocytes is a complex process that depends on multiple receptor-ligand interactions. Identification of host receptors is paramount for fighting the disease as it could reveal new intervention targets, but the enucleated nature of erythrocytes makes genetic approaches impossible and many receptors remain unknown. Host-parasite interactions evolve rapidly and are therefore likely to be species-specific. As a results, understanding of invasion receptors outside the major human pathogen Plasmodium falciparum is very limited. Here we use mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) that can be genetically engineered and differentiated into erythrocytes to identify receptors for the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. Two proteins previously implicated in human malaria infection: glycophorin C (GYPC) and Band-3 (Slc4a1) were deleted in mESCs to generate stable cell lines, which were differentiated towards erythropoiesis. In vitro infection assays revealed that while deletion of Band-3 has no effect, absence of GYPC results in a dramatic decrease in invasion, demonstrating the crucial role of this protein for P. berghei infection. This stem cell approach offers the possibility of targeting genes that may be essential and therefore difficult to disrupt in whole organisms and has the potential to be applied to a variety of parasites in diverse host cell types.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was funded by core funding of the Sanger Institute by the Wellcome Trust.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Modrzynska, Dr Katarzyna
• Authors: Yiangou, L., Montandon, R., Modrzynska, K., Rosen, B., Bushell, W., Hale, C., Billker, O., Rayner, J. C., and Pance, A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• ISSN (Online): 1932-6203
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 Yiangou et al.
• First Published: First published in PLoS ONE 11(6):e0158238
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License