Immunoprecipitation mass spectrometry of SPARKEL

SPARK is an AGC kinase found in apicomplexan parasites, which are ubiquitous pathogens of animals. Previous studies have shown that SPARK is necessary for efficient parasite calcium mobilization, invasion, and egress from host cells. We identified an interaction partner of SPARK, which we termed SPARKEL. Here, we performed immunoprecipitation of SPARKEL from parasite lysates followed by mass spectrometry to confirm the interaction with SPARK and identify other potential interacting proteins.