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Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014.

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Other Authors: Cromarty, Allan Duncan
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Cromarty, Allan Duncan
author_browse Cromarty, Allan Duncan
author_facet Cromarty, Allan Duncan
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/46043 Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites Cromarty, Allan Duncan Stoychev, Stoyan Baron, Kim L. UCTD Plasmodium falciparum Sodium periodate Malaria Invasion, proteomics LC-MS/MS Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. Malaria is a disease caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium where the species that causes the most severe form of malaria in humans is known as Plasmodium falciparum. At least 40% of the global population is at risk of contracting malaria with 627 000 people dying as a result of this disease in 2012. Approximately 90% of all malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where approximately every 30 seconds a young child dies, making malaria the leading cause of death in children under the age of five years old. The malaria parasite has a complex life cycle utilising both invertebrate and vertebrate hosts across sexual and asexual stages. The erythrocyte invasion stage of the life cycle in the human whereby the invasive merozoite form of the parasite enters the erythrocyte is a central and essential step, and it is during this stage that the clinical symptoms of malaria manifest themselves. Merozoites invade erythrocytes utilising multiple, highly specific receptor-ligand interactions in a series of co-ordinated events. The aim of this study was to better understand the interactions occurring between the merozoite and erythrocyte during invasion by using modern, cutting-edge proteomic techniques. This was done in the hope of laying the foundation for the discovery of new key therapeutic targets for antimalarial drug and vaccine-based strategies, as there is currently no commercially available antimalarial vaccine and no drug to which the parasite has not at least started showing resistance. In this study healthy human erythrocytes were treated separately with different protein-altering enzymes and chemicals being trypsin, the potent oxidant sodium periodate (NaIO4), the amine cross-linker tris(2-chloroethyl)amine hydrochloride (TCEA) and the thiol cross-linker 1,11-bis(maleimido)triethylene glycol (BM(PEG)3). The resulting erythrocyte protein alterations were visualised as protein band differences on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS PAGE), where treated and untreated control erythrocyte ghost protein fingerprints were visually compared to one another. The protein bands showing differences between treated and control samples were in-gel digested using trypsin then sequenced by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and identified using proteomics-based software. In this way, the erythrocyte proteins altered by each enzyme/chemical treatment were identified. Malaria invasion assays were performed where each treatment group of erythrocytes as well as the control erythrocytes were incubated separately with schizont stage malaria parasites for the duration of one complete life cycle. Using fluorescent staining and flow cytometry, the invasion inhibition efficiency for each treatment group was evaluated. By utilising these methods, the identification and the relative importance of the erythrocyte proteins involved in the invasion process were determined. Protein fingerprints of control and treated erythrocyte ghosts were visualised and optimised on SDS PAGE where induced protein band differences were successfully identified by LC-MS/MS. It was found that each treatment altered erythrocyte proteins with changes found in Band 3, actin, phosphoglycerate kinase 1, spectrin alpha, spectrin beta, ankyrin, haemoglobin, Bands 4.1 and 4.2, glycophorin A and stomatin. The invasion assays revealed that TCEA inhibited invasion to the greatest extent as compared to the other treatments, followed by BM(PEG)3 and trypsin. Sodium periodate-treated erythrocytes could not be assessed using the invasion assay due to auto-haemolysis. Band 3, glycophorin A, Band 4.1 and stomatin appear to be of higher relative importance in the invasion process as compared to the other altered erythrocyte proteins. These results confirmed the known roles of spectrin alpha, spectrin beta, glycophorin A, Band 3 and Band 4.1 in invasion, and suggested that ankyrin, Band 4.2 and stomatin may also be involved. This study highlighted the potential that modern, cutting-edge proteomic techniques provide when applied to previous comparative studies found in older literature, as previously unidentified proteins that can be involved in invasion were revealed. These results can be used as a foundation in future studies in order to identify new key targets for the development of new antimalarial drug- and vaccine-based strategies, with the hope of preventing the suffering of the millions of malaria-inflicted people worldwide, and ultimately eradicating this deadly disease. tm2015 Pharmacology MSc Unrestricted 2015-07-02T11:06:38Z 2015-07-02T11:06:38Z 2015/04/24 2014 Dissertation Baron, KL 2014, Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites, MSc Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46043> A2015 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46043 en © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Plasmodium falciparum
Sodium periodate
Malaria
Invasion, proteomics
LC-MS/MS
Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites
title Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites
title_full Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites
title_fullStr Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites
title_full_unstemmed Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites
title_short Enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify Plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites
title_sort enzymatic and chemical modifications of erythrocyte surface antigens to identify plasmodium falciparum merozoite binding sites
topic UCTD
Plasmodium falciparum
Sodium periodate
Malaria
Invasion, proteomics
LC-MS/MS
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46043