PfCDPK7 signaling regulates phospholipid biogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum

Calcium Dependent Protein Kinases (CDPKs) play important function in calcium signaling at various stage of Plasmodium falciparum. CDPK7 is one such kinase, which plays a crucial role in the development of Plasmodium falciparum parasite. In order to understand the function of PfCDPK7, we performed comparative phosphoproteomic analysis of PfCDPK7 knockout mutant and wild-type lines. In brief, proteins from PfCDPK7 knockout mutant and wild-type parasites were isolated, digested with trypsin and labelled with iTRAQ tags. Phosphopeptides were then enriched from iTRAQ labeled peptides and subjected to LC-MS/MS analysis. This led to the identification of putative substrates of PfCDPK7 in the parasites. A comparative proteomic analysis was performed to measure the protein abundance changes in the PfCDPK7 mutant parasites.