[Letter to the Editor] NaOH concentration and streptavidin bead type are key factors for optimal DNA aptamer strand separation and isolation.

Address correspondence to Geoffrey K. Kilili or Christine M. Karbiwnyk, Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center, US Food and Drug Administration, Winchester, MA, 01890. E-mail: Geoffrey.Kilili@fda.hhs.gov or Christine.Karbiwnyk@fda.hhs.gov.

An erythrocyte cytoskeleton-binding motif in exported Plasmodium falciparum proteins.

Binding of exported malaria parasite proteins to the host cell membrane and cytoskeleton contributes to the morphological, functional, and antigenic changes seen in Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. One such exported protein that targets the erythrocyte cytoskeleton is the mature parasite-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (MESA), which interacts with the N-terminal 30-kDa domain of protein 4.1R via a 19-residue sequence. We report here that the MESA erythrocyte cytoskeleton-binding (MEC) domain is present in at least 13 other P. falciparum proteins predicted to be exported to the host cell. An alignment of the putative cytoskeleton-binding sequences revealed a conserved aspartic acid at the C terminus that was omitted from the originally reported binding domain. Mutagenesis experiments demonstrated that this aspartic acid was required for the optimal binding of MESA to inside-out vesicles (IOVs) prepared from erythrocytes. Using pulldown assays, we characterized the binding of fragments encoding the MEC domains from PFE0040c/MESA and six other proteins (PF10_0378, PFA0675w, PFB0925w, PFD0095c, PFF1510w, and PFI1790w) to IOVs. All seven proteins bound to IOVs, with MESA showing the strongest affinity in saturation binding experiments. We further examined the interaction of the MEC domain proteins with components of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton and showed that MESA, PF10_0378, and PFA0675w coprecipitated full-length 4.1R from lysates prepared from IOVs. These data demonstrated that the MEC motif is present and functional in at least six other P. falciparum proteins that are exported to the host cell cytoplasm.

Mammalian Ste20-like kinase (Mst2) indirectly supports Raf-1/ERK pathway activity via maintenance of protein phosphatase-2A catalytic subunit levels and consequent suppression of inhibitory Raf-1 phosphorylation.

Many tumor suppressor proteins act to blunt the effects of mitogenic signaling pathways. Loss of function mutations in the merlin tumor suppressor underlie neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a familial autosomal dominant cancer syndrome. Studies of Drosophila suggest that Hippo (hpo) is required for inhibition of cell proliferation mediated by dMer, the orthologue of human merlin. Mammalian sterile 20-like kinase-2 (Mst2) is a mammalian Hpo orthologue, and numerous studies implicate Mst2 as a tumor suppressor. Mst2 is negatively regulated by the proto-oncoprotein Raf-1 in a manner independent of the kinase activity of Raf-1. We sought to determine whether, in mammalian cells, merlin could positively regulate Mst2. We also sought to determine whether Mst2, in addition to being negatively regulated by Raf-1, might itself reciprocally regulate Raf-1. In contrast to findings from Drosophila, we find no evidence that mammalian merlin positively regulates mammalian Mst2. Instead, surprisingly, RNA interference silencing of Mst2 leads to elevated inhibitory phosphorylation of Raf-1 at Ser-259 and impaired Raf-1 kinase activity. Consequent to this, ERK pathway activation and cell proliferation are attenuated. Phosphatase-2A (PP2A) dephosphorylates Raf-1 Ser-259 in response to mitogens. Interestingly RNA interference silencing of Mst2 triggers a striking proteasome-dependent decrease in the levels of the catalytic subunit of PP2A (PP2A-C). A similar effect is achieved upon silencing of large tumor suppressor (LATS)-1 and LATS2, direct substrates of Mst2. Our studies reveal a more complex role for Mst2 than previously thought. The Mst2 --> LATS1/2 pathway, by maintaining PP2A-C levels, may, in some situations, positively affect mitogenic signaling.