Characterizing the role of Cyp19B as a contributing factor to artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) is a protozoan parasite with the highest rates of mortality and most prevalent on the African continent. Given the emergence of antimalarial drug resistance in the recent years, the exact mechanisms of how the mutations or upregulation in the parasite increased resistance against antimalarial drugs are still unclear. Previous methods to investigate Cyclophilin19B (CYP19B) as an over expression marker were used, therefore to further add on to this area of research, the possible location of CYP19B within P.falciparum is studied as well as its effect on artemisinin through western blotting, immunofluorescence and competition assays. It was interesting to note, through microscopy that CYP19B follows a similar protein localisation as the BiP protein within P.falciparum. Through the competition assay, it was inconclusive to determine that CYP19B aids in artemisinin resistance as there were no significant change in the prevalence of the overexpression plasmid in a mixed population. Nevertheless, this study proves that CYP19B is being over expressed and has some functions in the endoplasmic reticulum, corroborating well with current evidence regarding its role in protein folding. Hence, this knowledge can aid in helping understand the mechanism of artemisinin resistance Plasmodium parasites.