PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Istvan, Eva S.
AU  - Das, Sudipta
AU  - Bhatnagar, Suyash
AU  - Beck, Josh R.
AU  - Owen, Edward
AU  - Llinás, Manuel
AU  - Ganesan, Suresh M.
AU  - Niles, Jacquin C.
AU  - Winzeler, Elizabeth A.
AU  - Vaidya, Akhil B.
AU  - Goldberg, Daniel E.
TI  - <em>Plasmodium falciparum</em> Niemann-Pick Type C1-Related Protein is a Druggable Target Required for Parasite Membrane Homeostasis
AID  - 10.1101/371484
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 371484
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/07/18/371484.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/07/18/371484.full
AB  - Plasmodium parasites possess a protein with homology to Niemann-Pick Type C1 proteins (Plasmodium falciparum Niemann-Pick Type C1-Related protein, PfNCR1). We isolated parasites with resistance-conferring mutations in PfNCR1 during selections with three diverse small-molecule antimalarial compounds and show that the mutations are causative for compound resistance. PfNCR1 protein knockdown results in severely attenuated growth and confers hypersensitivity to the compounds. Compound treatment or protein knockdown leads to increased sensitivity of the parasite plasma membrane (PPM) to the amphipathic glycoside saponin and engenders digestive vacuoles (DVs) that are small and malformed. Immuno-electron microscopy and split-GFP experiments localize PfNCR1 to the PPM. Our experiments show that PfNCR1 activity is critically important for the composition of the PPM and is required for DV biogenesis, suggesting PfNCR1 as a novel antimalarial drug target.