Polyamine uptake in the malaria parasites, plasmodium falciparum, is dependent on the parasites membrane potential

Abstract

Polyamines are present at high levels in proliferating cells, including cancerous cells and protozoan parasites and the inhibition of their synthesis has been exploited in antiproliferative strategies. Inhibition of the malaria parasite’s polyamine biosynthetic pathway causes cytostatic arrest in the trophozoite stage but does not cure in vivo infections in the murine model of malaria. This is possibly due to exogenous polyamine salvage from the host, which replenishes the intracellular polyamine pool. This implies that disruption of polyamine metabolism as an antimalarial chemotherapy strategy may require targeting both polyamine biosynthesis and transport simultaneously.