Circumsporozoite protein is required for development of malaria sporozoites in mosquitoes

Robert Ménard, Ali A. Sultan, Claudio Cortes, Rita Altszuler, Melissa R. van Dijk, Chris J. Janse, Andrew P. Waters, Ruth S. Nussenzweig and Victor Nussenzweig
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Robert Ménard: New York University Medical Center
Ali A. Sultan: New York University Medical Center
Claudio Cortes: Department of Medical and Molecular Parasitology
Rita Altszuler: Department of Medical and Molecular Parasitology
Melissa R. van Dijk: University of Leiden
Chris J. Janse: University of Leiden
Andrew P. Waters: University of Leiden
Ruth S. Nussenzweig: Department of Medical and Molecular Parasitology
Victor Nussenzweig: New York University Medical Center

Nature, 1997, vol. 385, issue 6614, 336-340

Abstract: Abstract Malaria parasites undergo a sporogonic cycle in the mosquito vector. Sporozoites, the form of the parasite injected into the host during a bloodmeal, develop inside oocysts in the insect midgut, then migrate to and eventually invade the salivary glands. The circumsporozoite protein (CS), one of the major proteins synthesized by salivary gland sporozoites1, is a surface-associated molecule which is important in sporozoite infectivity to the host2. Here, by gene targeting, we created Plasmodium berghei lines in which the single-copy CS gene was disrupted. The CS( − ) and wild-type parasites produced similar numbers of oocysts of comparable size in the mosquito midgut. In the CS( − ) oocysts, however, sporozoite formation was profoundly inhibited. CS therefore appears to have a pleiotropic role and to be vital for malaria parasites in both the vector and the host: in mosquitoes, CS is essential for sporozoite development within oocysts, and in the vertebrate host it promotes sporozoite attachment to hepatocytes3–7.

Date: 1997
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DOI: 10.1038/385336a0

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