Dissecting Plasmodium falciparum myosin a function and regulation: the highway to develop novel antimalarial compounds

Abstract

Malaria is the deadliest parasitic disease (0.5 million deaths per year) and results from infection by Apicomplexan parasites from the genus Plasmodium. Combining X-ray crystallography, transient kinetics, molecular dynamics and parasitology, we characterized PfMyoA, an atypical class XIV myosin from Plasmodium falciparum. The unique N-terminal extension of PfMyoA acts as a switch allowing the motor to move at high speed (motile stage) or produce more force (invasion) depending on its phosphorylation state.