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. 2024 Apr 29;51(1):594.
doi: 10.1007/s11033-024-09538-x.

Profile of metacaspase gene expression in Plasmodium vivax field isolates from the Brazilian Amazon

Carolina Moreira Blanco #  1 , Hugo Amorim Dos Santos de Souza #  1 , Priscilla da Costa Martins  1 , Camila Fabbri  2   3 , Fernanda Souza de Souza  2 , Josué da Costa Lima-Junior  4 , Stefanie Costa Pinto Lopes  2   3 , Lilian Rose Pratt-Riccio  1 , Cláudio Tadeu Daniel-Ribeiro  1 , Paulo Renato Rivas Totino  5
Affiliations

Profile of metacaspase gene expression in Plasmodium vivax field isolates from the Brazilian Amazon

Carolina Moreira Blanco et al. Mol Biol Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Metacaspases comprise a family of cysteine proteases implicated in both cell death and cell differentiation of protists that has been considered a potential drug target for protozoan parasites. However, the biology of metacaspases in Plasmodium vivax - the second most prevalent and most widespread human malaria parasite worldwide, whose occurrence of chemoresistance has been reported in many endemic countries, remains largely unexplored. Therefore, the present study aimed to address, for the first time, the expression pattern of metacaspases in P. vivax parasites.

Methods and results: P. vivax blood-stage parasites were obtained from malaria patients in the Brazilian Amazon and the expression of the three putative P. vivax metacaspases (PvMCA1-3) was detected in all isolates by quantitative PCR assay. Of note, the expression levels of each PvMCA varied noticeably across isolates, which presented different frequencies of parasite forms, supporting that PvMCAs may be expressed in a stage-specific manner as previously shown in P. falciparum.

Conclusion: The detection of metacaspases in P. vivax blood-stage parasites reported herein, allows the inclusion of these proteases as a potential candidate drug target for vivax malaria, while further investigations are still required to evaluate the activity, role and essentiality of metacaspases in P. vivax biology.

Keywords: P. vivax; Drug target; Malaria; Metacaspases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Profile of metacaspase expression in P. vivax blood-stage parasites isolated from malaria patients. A Frequency of blood-stage forms in P. vivax samples (Pv01-04) after parasite enrichment by 70% Percoll centrifugation. B Mean threshold cycle (Ct) values for P. vivax metacaspases (PvMCA1, PvMCA2 and PvMCA3) and P. vivax housekeeping genes (18 S rRNA and ß-tubulin), as evaluated by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) in P. vivax isolates (Pv01-04). The bars indicate the maximum and minimum Ct values detected, respectively. C Relative expression of PvMCA1, PvMCA2 and PvMCA3 among P. vivax isolates. The 18 S rRNA gene was used as internal control and Pv01 was selected as calibrator sample for ∆∆Ct calculation. Data are expressed as 2−∆∆Ct values
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