Effect of choline kinase inhibitor hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide on Plasmodium falciparum gene expression.

Investigations on the fundamental of malaria parasite biology, such as invasion, growth cycle, metabolism and cell signalling have uncovered a number of potential antimalarial drug targets, including choline kinase, a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, an important component in parasite membrane compartment. The effect on gene expression of Plasmodium falciparum K1 strain following 72 hours exposure to 2 µM (IC 50 concentration) of the choline kinase inhibitor, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTAB) was evaluated by DNA microarray analysis. Genes important in P. falciparum intra- erythrocytic life cycle, such as invasion, cytoadherance and growth were among those affected by at least 2-fold changes in their expression levels compared with non HDTAB-treated control.