Rab7 of Plasmodium falciparum is involved in its retromer complex assembly near the digestive vacuole

Abstract

Background Intracellular protein trafficking is crucial for survival of cell and proper functioning of the organelles; however, these pathways are not well studied in the malaria parasite. Its unique cellular architecture and organellar composition raise an interesting question to investigate. Methods The interaction of Plasmodium falciparum Rab7 (PfRab7) with P. falciparum vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 26 (PfVPS26) of retromer complex was shown by coimmunoprecipitation. Confocal microscopy was used to show the localization of the complex in the parasite with respect to different organelles. Further chemical tools were employed to explore the role of digestive vacuole (DV) in retromer trafficking in parasite and GTPase activity of PfRab7 was examined. Results PfRab7 was found to be interacting with retromer complex that assembled mostly near DV and the Golgi in trophozoites and chemical disruption of DV by chloroquine (CQ) led to its disassembly that was further validated by using compound 5f, a heme polymerization inhibitor in the DV. PfRab7 exhibited Mg²⁺ dependent weak GTPase activity that was inhibited by a specific Rab7 GTPase inhibitor, CID 1067700, which prevented the assembly of retromer complex in P. falciparum and inhibited its growth indicating the role of GTPase activity of PfRab7 in retromer assembly. Conclusion Retromer complex was found to be interacting with PfRab7 and the functional integrity of the DV was found to be important for retromer assembly in P. falciparum. General significance This study explores the retromer trafficking in P. falciparum and describes a method to validate DV targeting antiplasmodial molecules.