Plasmodium protein UIS3 protects the parasite from autophagy clearance.

The malaria causative parasite, Plasmodium, has received intense focus due to its complex life cycle and threat to human health. When infecting human hepatocytes, the parasite manages to escape clearance by macroautophagy/autophagy. In a recent paper by Real et al., the authors discovered that the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) membrane protein UIS3 encoded by Plasmodium interacts with MAP1LC3/LC3, an important component of the autophagy machinery. This interaction interferes with the association between LC3 and its receptors, which helps the parasite avoid sequestration by a phagophore, and subsequent elimination by the host. This study expands our knowledge about the Plasmodium-host interaction, as well as provides information for a potential anti-Plasmodium drug target.