Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program
BS, Preventive Medicine
Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
MS, Immunology
Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Email: hangjun.ke@drexel.edu

Advisor: Dr. Akhil Vaidya
 
Thesis Research Summary

Malaria remains a severe infectious disease in many tropical and sub-tropical regions. It kills one to three million people annually, of whom children under the age of five in Sub-Saharan Africa are the major victims. Among all malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum is the most dangerous, as it has the highest rates of complications and mortality. The parasite mitochondrion is an organelle that holds promise as anti-malarial drug target. The discovery in the late 1980s of Plasmodium’s mitochondrial DNA revealed an unusually small 6 kb DNA molecule. In mammalian and yeast cells, mitochondrial ATP synthesis is carried out by a multisubunit rotary enzyme, F0F1 ATP synthase, located within the inner membrane, utilizing the proton motive force produced by the electron transport chain. The recently completed genome sequence of P. falciparum has revealed the presence of genes encoding all the basic components of the F1 sector and subunit c of the F0 sector; still, little is known about the localization and function of these subunits. Without subunits a and b of the F0 sector, the classical function of ATP synthesis is in question. I have initiated a project to determine the intracellular localization of these subunits, find out if they do form a complex similar to F0F1 ATP synthase in other eukaryotes, and further analyze their function in vivo. Initially, I am studying the β subunit of the F1 sector, I have amplified the F1 β gene by PCR from the genome of P. falciparum and cloned it into the malaria expression plasmids pHHGFP and pHHMYC for expression with C-terminal GFP and myc tags, respectively, allowing localization studies after stable transfection into cultured parasites. Additional studies may include investigations to determine which other proteins are complexed to or interact with the β subunit and attempts to knockout the β subunit gene to ascertain its essentiality in vivo, which may vary with different stages of the parasite’s life cycle.