Validation of RLS1 transfectants to study regulation of P. falciparum gametocytes

• Main Author: Lim, Ting Yu
• Other Authors: Peter Preiser
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Science::Biological sciences::Molecular biology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166796
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) is a parasite responsible for malaria, one of the leading cause of deaths in developing countries. Gametocytes of P. falciparum are the only form of transmission, which represents a bottleneck in their lifecycle, hence a key target for malarial therapeutics. In this project, characterisation of a novel inner membrane complex suture protein, responsible for gametocyte morphology was conducted. Specifically, whether phosphorylation and the terminal ends of this protein affects regulation of gametocyte morphology. Unfortunately, presence of cross contamination and issue of plasmid retainment in supposed markerless cell line rendered further experimentations, impractical. Moving on, an attempt was made to study novel protein interactions in late-stage gametocytes. However, due to issues with line purity that affected yield of gametocytes, the study could not proceed as planned. Instead, troubleshooting parameters for the validation of different transfectants relevant to this project were established. Moreover, suggestions to tackle problems encountered through the course of this project were also discussed. Therefore, once cell lines are successfully recovered, this study could proceed to uncover importance of the novel protein in IMC assembly for gametocyte regulation.