Previous attempts to disrupt PfRipr and CyRPA in P. falciparum have not been successful, suggesting their function is essential. To understand their function, we constructed P. falciparum lines in which pfripr and cyrpa could be conditionally deleted using dimerizable Cre recombinase (DiCre) by generating RiprloxCre and CyRPAloxCre. The absence of PfRipr and CyRPA expression was analyzed by immunofluorescence, and a significant proportion of the populations showed no detectable expression (E and F). These results show that rapamycin-treated RiprloxCre and CyRPAloxCre have substantially decreased expression of PfRipr and CyRPA, respectively. The decrease in expression had no effect on expression and localization of other proteins involved in merozoite invasion.

Volz JC, Yap A, Sisquella X, Thompson JK, Lim NT, Whitehead LW, Chen L, Lampe M, Tham WH, Wilson D, Nebl T, Marapana D, Triglia T, Wong W, Rogers KL, Cowman AF. Essential Role of the PfRh5/PfRipr/CyRPA Complex during Plasmodium falciparum Invasion of Erythrocytes. Cell Host Microbe. 2016 Jun 30 [Epub ahead of print]