The characterization of the phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinase in plasmodium falciparum and the effect of selective inhibitors of this enzyme on the parasite
Date
2004-05-04
Authors
Mtombeni, Nokuhle
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Abstract
Malaria is the most prevalent parasitic disease in the world and the emergence of drug resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum has made the search for new antimalarial drugs important. Protein kinases play an important role in cellular function and the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signal transduction pathway is implicated in diverse cellular processes such as glucose transport, cell survival and proliferation. A homology based approach identified an open reading frame (ORF) coding for the catalytic region of part of the 6.4 Kb ORF of PFE0765w gene sequence found at plasmoDB. The ORF consisted of 1 758 base pairs which coded for a 586 amino acid protein with a molecular weight of 68.5 KDa. The PfPI3K ORF was amplified from P.falciparum DNA, subcloned into an expression vector and the sequence verified. Analysis of the expressed protein obtained by Western blotting and probing with anti-His monoclonal antibody showed a protein of 68.5 KDa as well as some smaller products.
Description
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine
Johannesburg, 2004