PF3D7_0935900 ring-exported protein 1

Maurer’s cleft organization and actin remodeling. (A) Stage IV Equinatoxin II-permeabilized gametocytes were labeled with anti-REX1 and protein A-gold. A 0.8-nm virtual electron tomogram section shows Maurer’s clefts decorated with anti-REX1. A rendered model shows the Maurer’s clefts (MC; cyan), RBC membrane (red), the inner membrane complex (IMC; green), the parasite membrane (PM; blue), parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM; yellow), and gold particles (gold). (Scale bars: 250 nm.) (B and C) Immunofluorescence microscopy of Equinatoxin II-permeabilized (B) or sheared (C) uninfected RBCs, trophozoites, and gametocytes labeled with anti-β-actin (yellow), and REX1 (cyan). A punctate accumulation of the actin signal was observed at the REX1-labeled structures (B). 87% of clefts dual-labeled consistent with recruitment of actin to the Maurer’s clefts.

Dearnley M, Chu T, Zhang Y, Looker O, Huang C, Klonis N, Yeoman J, Kenny S, Arora M, Osborne JM, Chandramohanadas R, Zhang S, Dixon MW, Tilley L. Reversible host cell remodeling underpins deformability changes in malaria parasite sexual blood stages. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 26;113(17):4800-5.

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