MalCommit - MalCommit - Understanding Sexual Commitment and Early Differentiation of Malaria Transmission Stages

The project aims to understand the processes responsible for the differentiation of asexual malaria blood stage parasites into sexual forms. The anticipated results may open up new avenues for the development of transmission-blocking drugs and vaccines.

Stewart L.B, Freville A, Voss T.S, Baker D.A, Awandare G.A, Conway D.J. Plasmodium falciparum sexual commitment rate variation among clinical isolates and diverse laboratory-adapted lines. Microbiol Spectr. 2022;10(6):e0223422. DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02234-22

Thommen B.T, Passecker A, Buser T, Hitz E, Voss T.S, Brancucci N.M.B. Revisiting the effect of pharmaceuticals on transmission stage formation in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022;12:802341. DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.802341

Hitz E, Wiedemar N, Passecker A, Graça B.A.S, Scheurer C, Wittlin S, Brancucci N.M.B, Vakonakis I, Mäser P, Voss T.S. The 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 is an essential upstream activator of protein kinase A in malaria parasites. PLoS Biol. 2021;19(12):e3001483. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001483

Boltryk S.D, Passecker A, Alder A, Carrington E, van de Vegte-Bolmer M, van Gemert G.J, van der Starre A, Beck H.P, Sauerwein R.W, Kooij T.W.A, Brancucci N.M.B, Proellochs N.I, Gilberger T.W, Voss T.S. CRISPR/Cas9-engineered inducible gametocyte producer lines as a valuable tool for Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission research. Nat Commun. 2021;12:4806. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24954-4

Evers F, Cabrera-Orefice A, Elurbe D.M, Kea-Te Lindert M, Boltryk S.D, Voss T.S, Huynen M.A, Brandt U, Kooij T.W.A. Composition and stage dynamics of mitochondrial complexes in Plasmodium falciparum. Nat Commun. 2021;12:3820. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23919-x

Tibúrcio M, Hitz E, Niederwieser I, Kelly G, Davies H, Doerig C, Billker O, Voss T.S, Treeck M. A 39-amino-acid C-terminal truncation of GDV1 disrupts sexual commitment in Plasmodium falciparum. mSphere. 2021;6(3):e01093-20. DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.01093-20

Carrington E, Cooijmans R.H.M, Keller D, Toenhake C.G, Bartfai R, Voss T.S. The ApiAP2 factor PfAP2-HC is an integral component of heterochromatin in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. iScience. 2021;24(5):102444. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102444

Hitz E, Grüninger O, Passecker A, Wyss M, Scheurer C, Wittlin S, Beck H.P, Brancucci N.M.B, Voss T.S. The catalytic subunit of Plasmodium falciparum casein kinase 2 is essential for gametocytogenesis. Commun Biol. 2021;4(1):336. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-01873-0

Hitz E, Balestra A.C, Brochet M, Voss T.S. PfMAP-2 is essential for male gametogenesis in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Sci Rep. 2020;10:11930. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68717-5

Warncke J.D, Passecker A, Kipfer E, Brand F, Perez-Martinez L, Proellochs N.I, Kooij T.W.A, Butter F, Voss T.S, Beck H.P. The PHIST protein GEXP02 targets the host cytoskeleton during sexual development of Plasmodium falciparum. Cell Microbiol. 2020;22(2):e13123. DOI: 10.1111/cmi.13123

Brancucci N.M.B, De Niz M, Straub T.J, Ravel D, Sollelis L, Birren B.W, Voss T.S, Neafsey D.E, Marti M. Probing Plasmodium falciparum sexual commitment at the single-cell level. Wellcome Open Res. 2018;3:70. DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14645.3

Filarsky M, Fraschka S.A, Niederwieser I, Brancucci N.M.B, Carrington E, Carrió E, Moes S, Jenoe P, Bartfai R, Voss T.S. GDV1 induces sexual commitment of malaria parasites by antagonizing HP1-dependent gene silencing. Science. 2018;359(6381):1259-1263. DOI: 10.1126/science.aan6042

Brancucci N.M.B, Gerdt J.P, Wang C, De Niz M, Philip N, Adapa S.R, Zhang M, Hitz E, Niederwieser I, Boltryk S.D, Laffitte M.C, Clark M.A, Gruring C, Ravel D, Blancke Soares A, Demas A, Bopp S, Rubio-Ruiz B, Conejo-Garcia A, Wirth D.F, Gendaszewska-Darmach E, Duraisingh M.T, Adams J.H, Voss T.S, Waters A.P, Jiang R.H.Y, Clardy J, Marti M. Lysophosphatidylcholine regulates sexual stage differentiation in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Cell. 2017;171(7):1532-1544 e15. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.10.020

Meerstein-Kessel L, Andolina C, Carrió E, Mahamar A, Sawa P, Diawara H, van de Vegte-Bolmer M, Stone W, Collins K.A, Schneider P, Dicko A, Drakeley C, Felger I, Voss T, Lanke K, Bousema T. A multiplex assay for the sensitive detection and quantification of male and female Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes. Malar J. 2018;17:441. DOI: 10.1186/s12936-018-2584-y

Wyss M, Thommen B.T, Kofler J, Carrington E, Brancucci N.M.B, Voss T.S. The three Plasmodium falciparum Aurora-related kinases display distinct temporal and spatial associations with mitotic structures in asexual blood stage parasites and gametocytes. mSphere. 2024;9(9):e0046524. DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00465-24

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