FIKK9.1 is an excellent drug target to develop anti-malarials. (a) Localization of FIKK9.1 within the parasite. (b) FIKK9.1 is not associated with mitochondria. (c) Confirmation of FIKK9.1 association with organelles. Subcellular immunofluorescence localization experiments suggest cytosolic localization of FIKK9.1 with overlap also seen with the apicoplast marker PfHU suggesting that the protein is localized to both the cytosol and the apicoplast (a). No overlap is seen with the mitochondrial marker Mitotracker Red (b). Thermolysin protection assay after differential permeabilization indicated that a distinct proportion of FIKK9.1 is organellar and is protected from thermolysin cleavage in the digitonin-permeabilized set. PfHU and PfHsp70 served as the apicoplast and cytosol localized control proteins.

D AK, Shrivastava D, Sahasrabuddhe AA, Habib S, Trivedi V. Plasmodium falciparum FIKK9.1 is a monomeric serine-threonine protein kinase with features to exploit as a drug target. Chem Biol Drug Des. 2021