Wednesday, June 19, 2013
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Background

The Gene Translation laboratory of the IRB, directed by Dr. Ribas, will carry out the study of four different aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARS) in Plasmodium, the generation of a positive selection scheme that should greatly simplify the task of isolation of ARS inhibitors, and the employment of this screening approach to the identification and initial characterization of new anti-malarial drugs. Lluís Ribas has worked on tRNA synthetases for the last 15 years, first at M.I.T. as a postdoctoral scientist, and then as an assistant professor at the Scripps Research Institute. His expertise covers the evolution of the genetic code apparatus, the molecular characterization and modification of RNA-protein interactions, and the genetic selection of tRNA synthetases with altered substrate specificity. His laboratory is dedicated to the study of protein synthesis in human parasites, including Trypanosoma, Plasmodium, and Entamoeba.

Specific expertise on Plasmodium molecular biology is provided by Dr. Cortés, a staff scientist at the Gene Translation Laboratory since 2006. Dr. Cortés has a 5-year fellowship to work in our laboratory, and he will supervise parasite culture and parasite genetic experiments. Dr. Cortés has published extensively on several aspects of Plasmodium infectivity, mainly focusing in the mechanisms of gene regulation that coordinate red blood cell invasion by Plasmodium (refs 4-7). Dr. Cortés worked for three years at the Molecular Parasitology Laboratory of Papua New Guinea, before joining the MRC Division of Parasitology in 2003.

Selected publications

  • Farrera-Sinfreu J, Español Y, Geslain R, Guitart T, Albericio F, Ribas de Pouplana L and Royo M (2008) “Solid-phase combinatorial synthesis of a lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) inhibitory library”, J. Comb Chem, 10 (3), 391-400

  • Cifuentes D, Martínez-Pons C, García-Rocha M, Galina A, de Pouplana LR and Guinovart JJ (2008), “Hepatic glycogen synthesis in the absence of GK. The case of embryonic live” Biol Chem, 283 (9), 5642-5649

  • Jones, T.E., Brown, C.L., Geslain, R., Alexander, R.W., and Ribas de Pouplana, L. (2008) “An operational RNA code for faithful assignment of ATG triplets to methionine”. Molecular Cell, 29 (3), 401-407

  • Ribas de Pouplana L and Geslain R (2008), “Not just because it is there: aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases gain control of the cell”, Mol Cell, 29 (6), 679-690

  • Cortés A, Carret C, Kaneko O, Yim Lim BYS, Ivens A and Holder AA (2007), “Epigenetic silencing of Plasmodium falciparum genes linked to erythrocyte invasion”, PLoS Pathogens, 3 (8), e107

  • Benet A, Khong TY, Ura A, Samen R, Lorry K, Mellombo M, Tavul L, Baea K, Rogerson SJ and Cortés A (2006) “Placental malaria in women with South-East Asian ovalocytosis”, Am J Trop Med Hyg, 75 (4), 597-604

  • Geslain, R., Aeby, E., Guitart, T., Jones, T.E., Castro de Moura, M., Charrière, F., Schneider, A., and Ribas de Pouplana, L. (2006) “Trypanosoma seryl-tRNA synthetase is a metazoan-like enzyme with high affinity for tRNASec” The Journal of Biological Chemistry 281, 38217-25.

  • Kaestli M, Cockburn IA, Cortés A, Baea K, Rowe JA and Beck HP, “Virulence of malaria in associated with differential expression of Plasmodium falciparum var gene subgroups in a case-control study” (2006), J Infect Dis, 193 (11), 1567-1574

  • Bori-Sanz T, Guitart -Rodés T, Ribas de Pouplana L, « Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases : a complex system beyond protein sythesis » (2006), Contributon to Science, 3 (2), 149-165

  • Beebe, K, Schimmel, P., & Ribas de Pouplana, L. (2003) “Elucidation of tRNA-dependent editing by a class II tRNA synthetase and significance for cell viability.” EMBO J. 22, 668-675.

  • Cortés A, Carret C, Kaneko O, Yim Lim BYS, Ivens A and Holder AA. Epigenetic Silencing of Plasmodium falciparum Genes Linked to Erythrocyte Invasion. PLoS Pathog 3(8): e107 doi: 10.1371.

  • Cortes A, Mellombo M, Mgone CS, Beck HP, Reeder JC, Cooke BM. (2005) “Adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells to CD36 under flow is enhanced by the cerebral malaria-protective trait South-East Asian ovalocytosis.” Mol Biochem Parasitol. 142, 252-7.

  • Cortes, A. (2005) “A chimeric Plasmodium falciparum Pfnbp2b/Pfnbp2a gene originated during asexual growth.” Int J Parasitol. 35, 125-30.

  • A. Cortés, A. Benet, B. M. Cooke, J. W. Barnwell and J. C. Reeder, 2004, “Ability of Plasmodium falciparum to invade South-East Asian ovalocytes varies between parasite lines”. Blood 104:2961-6.