RpiA and The Malaria Parasite
RpiA generated attention when the enzyme was found to play an essential role in the pathogenesis of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria. Plasmodium cells have a critical need for a large supply of the reducing power of NADPH via PPP in order to support their rapid growth. The need for NADPH is also required to detoxify heme, the product of hemoglobin degradation. Furthermore, Plasmodium has an intense requirement for nucleic acid production to support its rapid proliferation. The R5P produced via increased pentose phosphate pathway activity is used to generate 5-phospho-D-ribose α-1-pyrophosphate (PRPP) needed for nucleic acid synthesis. It has been shown that PRPP concentrations are increased 56 fold in infected erythrocytes compared with uninfected erythrocytes. Hence, designing drugs that target RpiA in Plasmodium falciparum could have therapeutic potential for patients that suffer from malaria.
Read more about this topic: Ribose-5-phosphate Isomerase
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