Targeting of PfHsp70-x to the host cell is dependent on an eight-amino-acid sequence. A. Structure of N-terminal region of PfHsp70-x. SP, predicted signal peptide cleavage site. Numbering refers to amino acids from N-terminus. The linker region between putative signal sequence cleavage site and the start of the ATPase domain is shown in dark blue. B. Live cell imaging of parasites expressing various N-terminal GFP fusion chimera. Numbers refer to amino acids from N-terminus. In merge and overlay: green, GFP; blue, Hoechst. Chimera containing up to 25AA show fluorescence exclusively in the PV, whereas chimera containing more than 32AA also show fluorescence in the host cell cytosol.

Külzer S, Charnaud S, Dagan T, Riedel J, Mandal P, Pesce ER, Blatch GL, Crabb BS, Gilson PR, Przyborski JM. Plasmodium falciparum-encoded exported hsp70/hsp40 chaperone/co-chaperone complexes within the host erythrocyte. Cell Microbiol. 2012 Aug 1. [Epub ahead of print]