The enzymes of the glycolytic pathway in erythrocytes infected with
Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites
EF Roth , MC Calvin, I Max-Audit, J Rosa and R Rosa
Department of Hematology, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College
of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467.
Enzymes of the glycolytic pathway as well as some ancillary enzymes were
studied in normal red cells parasitized with Plasmodium falciparum in
culture at varying parasitemias as well as in isolated parasites. The
levels of all enzymes except diphosphoglycerate mutase, glucose-6-
phosphate dehydrogenase, and adenylate kinase were elevated. Extreme
elevations of hexokinase, aldolase, enolase, pyruvate kinase, and adenosine
deaminase concentrations were noted. In most cases, electrophoretically
distinct bands of enzyme activity were also seen. These findings partly
explain the previously noted 50- to 100-fold increase in glucose
consumption of infected red cells and suggest that further knowledge of
these parasite enzymes and their genetic basis may aid both in designing
new chemotherapy and in understanding the evolution of these parasites.
Volume 72,
Issue 6,
pp. 1922-1925,
12/01/1988
Copyright © 1988 by The American Society of Hematology
