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Infection and Immunity, November 2000, p. 6461-6465, Vol. 68, No. 11
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Micronemal Transport of Plasmodium Ookinete Chitinases to the Electron-Dense Area of the Apical Complex for Extracellular Secretion

Rebecca C. Langer,1 Rhian E. Hayward,2 Takafumi Tsuboi,3 Mayumi Tachibana,3 Motomi Torii,3,* and Joseph M. Vinetz1,*

World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-06091; Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-04262; and Department of Molecular Parasitology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Shigenobu, Ehime 791-0295, Japan3

Received 13 June 2000/Returned for modification 16 July 2000/Accepted 19 August 2000

Plasmodium ookinetes secrete chitinases to penetrate the acellular, chitin-containing peritrophic matrix of the mosquito midgut en route to invasion of the epithelium. Chitinases are potentially targets that can be used to block malaria transmission. We demonstrate here that chitinases of Plasmodium falciparum and P. gallinaceum are concentrated at the apical end of ookinetes. The chitinase PgCHT1 of P. gallinaceum is present within ookinete micronemes and subsequently becomes localized in the electron-dense area of the apical complex. These observations suggest a pathway by which ookinetes secrete proteins extracellularly.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address for Joseph M. Vinetz: World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Keiller 2.138, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555-0609. Phone: (409) 747-2962. Fax: (409) 747-2437. E-mail: jovinetz{at}utmb.edu. Mailing address for Motomi Torii: Department of Molecular Parasitology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Shigenobu, Ehime 791-0295, Japan. Phone: 81 89 960 5285. Fax: 81 89 960 5287. E-mail: torii{at}m.ehime-u.ac.jp.

Infection and Immunity, November 2000, p. 6461-6465, Vol. 68, No. 11
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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