A member of the tryptophan-rich protein family is required for efficient sequestration of Plasmodium berghei schizonts
Authors: Gabelich Julie-Anne , Grützke Josephine , Kirscht Florian , Popp Oliver , Matz Joachim M , Dittmar Gunnar , Rug Melanie , Ingmundson Alyssa 
Published: July 2022

Protein export and host membrane remodeling are crucial for multiple Plasmodium species to establish a niche in infected hosts. To better understand the contribution of these processes to successful parasite infection in vivo, we sought to find and characterize protein components of the intraerythrocytic Plasmodium berghei-induced membrane structures (IBIS) that form in the cytoplasm of infected erythrocytes. We identified proteins that immunoprecipitate with IBIS1, a signature member of the IBIS in P. berghei-infected erythrocytes. In parallel, we also report our data describing proteins that co-precipitate with the PTEX (Plasmodium translocon of exported proteins) component EXP2. To validate our findings, we examined the location of three candidate IBIS1-interactors that are conserved across multiple Plasmodium species, and we found they localized to IBIS in infected red blood cells and two further co-localized with IBIS1 in the liver-stage parasitophorous vacuole membrane. Successful gene deletion revealed that these two tryptophan-rich domain-containing proteins, termed here IPIS2 and IPIS3 (for intraerythrocytic Plasmodium-induced membrane structures), are required for efficient blood-stage growth. Erythrocytes infected with IPIS2-deficient schizonts in particular fail to bind CD36 as efficiently as wild-type P. berghei-infected cells and therefore fail to effectively sequester out of the circulating blood. Our findings support the idea that intra-erythrocytic membrane compartments are required across species for alterations of the host erythrocyte that facilitate interactions of infected cells with host tissues.

Author Summary

Red blood cells, which are typically devoid of organelles or other intracellular membrane compartments, are host to Plasmodium parasites in a malaria infection. These intracellular parasites export proteins into the host red blood cell cytoplasm and generate novel membranous organelles therein. The best characterized of these membrane structures are known as Maurer’s clefts in Plasmodium falciparum-infected cells; however, infection with any studied Plasmodium species leads to the generation of membrane structures in the host red blood cell. For these other Plasmodium species, the known protein repertoire of these cleft-like structures is extremely limited. Our study expands upon this repertoire in the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei. We genetically targeted two of the proteins we identified in these cleft-like structures and found both are required for efficient Plasmodium growth in the host’s blood. One of these, which we term IPIS2, is required for the binding of late-stage Plasmodium-infected red blood cells to the vascular endothelium to sequester out of the circulating blood. Both proteins have a tryptophan-rich domain, and this is the first time a protein with this domain has been found to affect the remodeling of the host red blood cell during Plasmodium infection.