Non‐ribosomal insights from the ribosomal P2 protein in Plasmodium falciparum‐infected erythrocytes

• Published in: MicrobiologyOpen (Weinheim) 2021-08, Vol.10 (4)
• Main Authors: Das, Sudipta, Roy, Bhaskar, Chakrabarty, Saswata
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2045-8827
• DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.1188

The enormous complexity of the eukaryotic ribosome has been a real challenge in unlocking the mechanistic aspects of its amazing molecular function during mRNA translation and many non‐canonical activities of ribosomal proteins in eukaryotic cells. While exploring the uncanny nature of ribosomal P proteins in malaria parasites Plasmodium falciparum , the 60S stalk ribosomal P2 protein has been shown to get exported to the infected erythrocyte (IE) surface as an SDS‐resistant oligomer during the early to the mid‐trophozoite stage. Inhibiting IE surface P2 either by monoclonal antibody or through genetic knockdown resulted in nuclear division arrest of the parasite. This strange and serendipitous finding has led us to explore more about un‐canonical cell biology and the structural involvement of P2 protein in Plasmodium in the search for a novel biochemical role during parasite propagation in the human host. In malaria parasites, the 60S ribosomal stalk protein P2 translocates to the infected red blood cell surface and is potentially involved in the regulation of parasite nuclear division.