{"gene":"PF3D7_0729100","run_date":"2026-09-08T12:51:27","timeline":{"discoveries":[{"year":2022,"finding":"AKIT8 (PF3D7_0729100) was identified as one of 13 previously unknown kinetochore components in Apicomplexa through interactomics combined with deep homology searches. Apicomplexan kinetochores, including AKIT8, are part of a structure organized into at least four discrete compartments with different biochemical interactions and subkinetochore localizations.","method":"Interactomics (co-immunoprecipitation/mass spectrometry) combined with deep homology searches; subkinetochore localization experiments in Plasmodium berghei and Toxoplasma gondii","journal":"The Journal of cell biology","confidence":"Medium","confidence_rationale":"Tier 2 / Moderate — reciprocal interactomics and localization data from a single lab, with orthogonal deep homology searches; AKIT8 is one of many proteins identified and specific functional validation for AKIT8 alone is not described in the abstract","pmids":["36006241"],"is_preprint":false,"attribution":[{"species":"Plasmodium falciparum","strain":""},{"species":"Plasmodium berghei","strain":""}]}],"current_model":"AKIT8 (PF3D7_0729100) is an apicomplexan-specific kinetochore protein identified by interactomics as a component of the highly divergent apicomplexan kinetochore, which is organized into at least four discrete subkinetochore compartments; no further mechanistic details specific to AKIT8 itself have been established in the available literature."},"narrative":{"mechanistic_narrative":"AKIT8 (PF3D7_0729100) is an apicomplexan-specific kinetochore protein identified as one of 13 previously unknown kinetochore components in Apicomplexa through interactomics combined with deep homology searches [PMID:36006241]. The apicomplexan kinetochore, of which AKIT8 is a component, is a highly divergent structure organized into at least four discrete compartments with distinct biochemical interactions and subkinetochore localizations [PMID:36006241]. Beyond its assignment as a component of this divergent kinetochore, no mechanistic detail specific to AKIT8 itself — its individual binding partners, molecular activity, or functional contribution — has been characterized in the available corpus.","teleology":[{"year":2022,"claim":"The composition of the highly divergent apicomplexan kinetochore was largely unknown; identifying its protein parts was needed to understand how these parasites segregate chromosomes, and this work placed AKIT8 within that structure.","evidence":"Interactomics (co-IP/mass spectrometry) combined with deep homology searches and subkinetochore localization in Plasmodium berghei and Toxoplasma gondii","pmids":["36006241"],"confidence":"Medium","gaps":["No functional validation specific to AKIT8 alone (e.g. knockdown/knockout phenotype) is described","The specific direct binding partners of AKIT8 within the kinetochore are not resolved","Which of the four subkinetochore compartments AKIT8 occupies is not stated for AKIT8 specifically"],"attribution":[{"species":"Plasmodium falciparum","strain":""},{"species":"Plasmodium berghei","strain":""}]},{"year":null,"claim":"The molecular activity of AKIT8, its direct interaction partners, its precise subkinetochore compartment, and its individual contribution to chromosome segregation remain uncharacterized.","evidence":"","pmids":[],"confidence":"Medium","gaps":["No substrate or biochemical activity assigned to AKIT8","No AKIT8-specific loss-of-function phenotype established","No structural model of AKIT8 within the kinetochore"],"attribution":[]}],"mechanism_profile":{"molecular_activity":[],"localization":[],"pathway":[],"complexes":["Apicomplexan kinetochore"],"partners":[],"other_free_text":["Identified as one of 13 previously unknown apicomplexan kinetochore components; the kinetochore is organized into at least four discrete subkinetochore compartments [#0]","No mechanistic detail specific to AKIT8 itself beyond kinetochore membership is established in the available corpus"]}},"prefetch_data":{},"corpus_meta":[{"pmid":"36006241","id":"PMC_36006241","title":"Composition and organization of kinetochores show plasticity in apicomplexan chromosome segregation.","date":"2022","source":"The Journal of cell biology","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36006241","citation_count":31,"is_preprint":false,"source_species":["Pf"],"role":"primary","match_terms":["curated_ref"],"competing_organism_flag":false,"competing_organism_match":"","competing_organism_only":false},{"pmid":"39541984","id":"PMC_39541984","title":"Systematic screens for fertility genes essential for malaria parasite transmission reveal conserved aspects of sex in a divergent eukaryote.","date":"2024","source":"Cell systems","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39541984","citation_count":17,"is_preprint":false,"source_species":["Pf"],"role":"primary","match_terms":["allantoicase"],"competing_organism_flag":false,"competing_organism_match":"","competing_organism_only":false},{"pmid":"40392232","id":"PMC_40392232","title":"A novel SUN1-ALLAN complex coordinates segregation of the bipartite MTOC across the nuclear envelope during rapid closed mitosis in Plasmodium berghei.","date":"2025","source":"eLife","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40392232","citation_count":9,"is_preprint":false,"source_species":["Pf"],"role":"primary","match_terms":["allantoicase"],"competing_organism_flag":false,"competing_organism_match":"","competing_organism_only":false},{"pmid":"39677758","id":"PMC_39677758","title":"A novel SUN1-ALLAN complex coordinates segregation of the bipartite MTOC across the nuclear envelope during rapid closed mitosis in Plasmodium.","date":"2025","source":"bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39677758","citation_count":2,"is_preprint":false,"source_species":["Pf"],"role":"primary","match_terms":["allantoicase"],"competing_organism_flag":false,"competing_organism_match":"","competing_organism_only":false}],"cost":{"stage1":{"model":"claude-sonnet-4-6","input_tokens":4759,"output_tokens":451,"usd":0.010521,"stage1_stop_reason":"end_turn"},"stage2":{"model":"claude-opus-4-8","input_tokens":4952,"output_tokens":1094,"usd":0.026055,"stage2_stop_reason":"end_turn"},"total_usd":0.036576,"stage1_batch_id":"msgbatch_01DisAaTypwmC8QwdMBuePHo","stage2_batch_id":"msgbatch_0184zxZTqxiEfdYYfPMfkqjb","note":"batch pricing = 50% of standard"},"stage1_raw":"```json\n{\n  \"discoveries\": [\n    {\n      \"year\": 2022,\n      \"finding\": \"AKIT8 (PF3D7_0729100) was identified as one of 13 previously unknown kinetochore components in Apicomplexa through interactomics combined with deep homology searches. Apicomplexan kinetochores, including AKIT8, are part of a structure organized into at least four discrete compartments with different biochemical interactions and subkinetochore localizations.\",\n      \"method\": \"Interactomics (co-immunoprecipitation/mass spectrometry) combined with deep homology searches; subkinetochore localization experiments in Plasmodium berghei and Toxoplasma gondii\",\n      \"journal\": \"The Journal of cell biology\",\n      \"confidence\": \"Medium\",\n      \"confidence_rationale\": \"Tier 2 / Moderate — reciprocal interactomics and localization data from a single lab, with orthogonal deep homology searches; AKIT8 is one of many proteins identified and specific functional validation for AKIT8 alone is not described in the abstract\",\n      \"pmids\": [\"36006241\"],\n      \"is_preprint\": false,\n      \"attribution\": [\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium falciparum\", \"strain\": \"\"},\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium berghei\", \"strain\": \"\"}\n      ]\n    }\n  ],\n  \"current_model\": \"AKIT8 (PF3D7_0729100) is an apicomplexan-specific kinetochore protein identified by interactomics as a component of the highly divergent apicomplexan kinetochore, which is organized into at least four discrete subkinetochore compartments; no further mechanistic details specific to AKIT8 itself have been established in the available literature.\"\n}\n```","stage2_raw":"{\n  \"mechanistic_narrative\": \"AKIT8 (PF3D7_0729100) is an apicomplexan-specific kinetochore protein identified as one of 13 previously unknown kinetochore components in Apicomplexa through interactomics combined with deep homology searches [#0]. The apicomplexan kinetochore, of which AKIT8 is a component, is a highly divergent structure organized into at least four discrete compartments with distinct biochemical interactions and subkinetochore localizations [#0]. Beyond its assignment as a component of this divergent kinetochore, no mechanistic detail specific to AKIT8 itself — its individual binding partners, molecular activity, or functional contribution — has been characterized in the available corpus.\",\n  \"teleology\": [\n    {\n      \"year\": 2022,\n      \"claim\": \"The composition of the highly divergent apicomplexan kinetochore was largely unknown; identifying its protein parts was needed to understand how these parasites segregate chromosomes, and this work placed AKIT8 within that structure.\",\n      \"evidence\": \"Interactomics (co-IP/mass spectrometry) combined with deep homology searches and subkinetochore localization in Plasmodium berghei and Toxoplasma gondii\",\n      \"pmids\": [\"36006241\"],\n      \"confidence\": \"Medium\",\n      \"gaps\": [\n        \"No functional validation specific to AKIT8 alone (e.g. knockdown/knockout phenotype) is described\",\n        \"The specific direct binding partners of AKIT8 within the kinetochore are not resolved\",\n        \"Which of the four subkinetochore compartments AKIT8 occupies is not stated for AKIT8 specifically\"\n      ],\n      \"attribution\": [\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium falciparum\", \"strain\": \"\"},\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium berghei\", \"strain\": \"\"}\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"year\": null,\n      \"claim\": \"The molecular activity of AKIT8, its direct interaction partners, its precise subkinetochore compartment, and its individual contribution to chromosome segregation remain uncharacterized.\",\n      \"evidence\": \"\",\n      \"pmids\": [],\n      \"confidence\": \"Medium\",\n      \"gaps\": [\n        \"No substrate or biochemical activity assigned to AKIT8\",\n        \"No AKIT8-specific loss-of-function phenotype established\",\n        \"No structural model of AKIT8 within the kinetochore\"\n      ],\n      \"attribution\": []\n    }\n  ],\n  \"mechanism_profile\": {\n    \"molecular_activity\": [],\n    \"localization\": [\n      {\"term_id\": \"GO:0000776\", \"supporting_discovery_ids\": [0]}\n    ],\n    \"pathway\": [\n      {\"term_id\": \"GO:0007059\", \"supporting_discovery_ids\": [0]}\n    ],\n    \"complexes\": [\"Apicomplexan kinetochore\"],\n    \"partners\": [],\n    \"other_free_text\": [\n      \"Identified as one of 13 previously unknown apicomplexan kinetochore components; the kinetochore is organized into at least four discrete subkinetochore compartments [#0]\",\n      \"No mechanistic detail specific to AKIT8 itself beyond kinetochore membership is established in the available corpus\"\n    ]\n  }\n}","audit_flag":null,"strains":[{"strain":"Pf3D7","gene_id":"PF3D7_0729100","name":null,"product":"apicomplexan kinetochore protein 8, putative","uniprot_acc":null,"chromosome":null,"start_pos":null},{"strain":"PbANKA","gene_id":"PBANKA_0213200","name":null,"product":"allantoicase, putative","uniprot_acc":null,"chromosome":null,"start_pos":null},{"strain":"PkH","gene_id":"PKNH_0213700","name":null,"product":"apicomplexan kinetochore protein 8, putative","uniprot_acc":null,"chromosome":null,"start_pos":null}],"gene_symbol":"AKIT8","evaluation":null}