{"gene":"PF3D7_1140500","run_date":"2026-09-08T12:51:28","timeline":{"discoveries":[{"year":2019,"finding":"Gene deletion analysis indicated that MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) is likely essential in the asexual blood stages of Plasmodium berghei, as attempts to delete the gene were unsuccessful.","method":"Gene deletion / knockout attempt in Plasmodium berghei with assessment of essentiality in asexual blood stages","journal":"Cellular microbiology","confidence":"Medium","confidence_rationale":"Tier 2 / Weak — clean KO attempt with defined essentiality phenotype, but single lab, single method, and 'likely essential' indicates incomplete deletion rather than conditional KO with full mechanistic characterization","pmids":["31283102"],"is_preprint":false,"attribution":[{"species":"Plasmodium berghei","strain":""}]},{"year":2023,"finding":"MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) was identified as a putative interactor of ARK2 (aurora-related kinase 2) in Plasmodium berghei sexual stages, co-localising with ARK2 at spindle microtubules in the vicinity of kinetochores during mitosis and meiosis.","method":"Interactomic mass spectrometry (co-immunoprecipitation/pulldown) and co-localisation studies by super-resolution microscopy and live-cell fluorescence imaging","journal":"Nature communications","confidence":"Low","confidence_rationale":"Tier 3 / Weak — single Co-IP/MS identification with co-localisation, described as 'putative' interactor, single lab, no functional validation of the MyoK–ARK2 interaction specifically","pmids":["37704606"],"is_preprint":false,"attribution":[{"species":"Plasmodium berghei","strain":""}]},{"year":2005,"finding":"RT-PCR demonstrated that the MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) transcript is present in asexual blood stages of P. falciparum, showing developmentally regulated transcription; however, protein-level expression and translation timing were not specifically characterized for MyoK in this study.","method":"RT-PCR on blood stage parasite mRNA across developmental stages","journal":"Cell motility and the cytoskeleton","confidence":"Low","confidence_rationale":"Tier 4 / Weak — transcript detection only, no protein-level or mechanistic data for MyoK specifically; single lab, single method","pmids":["15754360"],"is_preprint":false,"attribution":[{"species":"Plasmodium falciparum","strain":""}]}],"current_model":"MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) is a putative myosin that is likely essential for asexual blood-stage proliferation in Plasmodium, and has been identified as a putative interactor of the aurora-related kinase ARK2 at spindle microtubules during sexual-stage division, but its precise molecular function and mechanism of action remain uncharacterized."},"narrative":{"mechanistic_narrative":"MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) is a putative myosin of Plasmodium whose transcript is present and developmentally regulated across asexual blood stages of P. falciparum [PMID:15754360], and whose gene is likely essential for asexual blood-stage proliferation in P. berghei, where knockout attempts failed [PMID:31283102]. In P. berghei sexual stages, MyoK has been identified as a putative interactor of the aurora-related kinase ARK2, co-localising with ARK2 at spindle microtubules near kinetochores during mitosis and meiosis [PMID:37704606]. Beyond this membership in the ARK2 interactome and its likely essentiality, the molecular activity, motor function, and mechanism of action of MyoK have not been characterized in the available corpus.","teleology":[{"year":2005,"claim":"Establishing whether MyoK is expressed at all in blood-stage parasites was the first step; RT-PCR showed its transcript is present and developmentally regulated, indicating the gene is transcribed during asexual proliferation.","evidence":"RT-PCR on blood-stage parasite mRNA across developmental stages in P. falciparum","pmids":["15754360"],"confidence":"Low","gaps":["Transcript detection only; no protein-level expression or translation timing established for MyoK","No functional or mechanistic role assigned","Single lab, single method"],"attribution":[{"species":"Plasmodium falciparum","strain":""}]},{"year":2019,"claim":"Whether MyoK is required for parasite viability was addressed by attempting gene deletion; failure to recover knockouts indicated the gene is likely essential in asexual blood stages, marking it as functionally important despite its uncharacterized role.","evidence":"Gene deletion / knockout attempt in P. berghei with assessment of asexual blood-stage essentiality","pmids":["31283102"],"confidence":"Medium","gaps":["'Likely essential' inferred from failed deletion rather than a conditional knockout with a defined phenotype","No mechanistic explanation for why the gene is essential","Single lab, single method"],"attribution":[{"species":"Plasmodium berghei","strain":""}]},{"year":2023,"claim":"The first physical/spatial context for MyoK came from ARK2 interactomics, which identified MyoK as a putative ARK2 interactor co-localising at spindle microtubules near kinetochores, placing MyoK in the vicinity of the sexual-stage division machinery.","evidence":"Co-IP/pulldown mass spectrometry with super-resolution and live-cell fluorescence co-localisation in P. berghei sexual stages","pmids":["37704606"],"confidence":"Low","gaps":["Single Co-IP/MS identification described as 'putative' with no reciprocal validation of the MyoK–ARK2 interaction specifically","No functional test of what MyoK does at the spindle","Interaction and localisation shown in sexual stages, not asexual stages where essentiality was inferred"],"attribution":[{"species":"Plasmodium berghei","strain":""}]},{"year":null,"claim":"The core molecular function of MyoK — whether it acts as an active motor, its binding partners, its cargo or filament substrate, and how its likely essentiality relates to its spindle-associated localisation — remains unresolved.","evidence":"No biochemical, structural, or conditional loss-of-function characterization of MyoK exists in the corpus","pmids":[],"confidence":"Low","gaps":["No demonstrated motor or enzymatic activity for MyoK","No conditional knockout linking essentiality to a specific cellular process","MyoK–ARK2 interaction not functionally validated"],"attribution":[]}],"mechanism_profile":{"molecular_activity":[],"localization":[],"pathway":[],"complexes":[],"partners":["ARK2 (AURORA-RELATED KINASE 2) — PUTATIVE INTERACTOR [#1]"],"other_free_text":["Putative myosin; molecular motor activity not experimentally demonstrated in the corpus.","Likely essential in asexual blood stages of P. berghei based on failed gene deletion [#0].","Transcript developmentally regulated across asexual blood stages of P. falciparum [#2].","Co-localises with ARK2 at spindle microtubules near kinetochores during mitosis and meiosis in P. berghei sexual stages [#1]."]}},"prefetch_data":{},"corpus_meta":[{"pmid":"31283102","id":"PMC_31283102","title":"Systematic analysis of Plasmodium myosins reveals differential expression, localisation, and function in invasive and proliferative parasite stages.","date":"2019","source":"Cellular microbiology","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31283102","citation_count":29,"is_preprint":false,"source_species":["Pf"],"role":"primary","match_terms":["MyoK"],"competing_organism_flag":false,"competing_organism_match":"","competing_organism_only":false},{"pmid":"37704606","id":"PMC_37704606","title":"Plasmodium ARK2 and EB1 drive unconventional spindle dynamics, during chromosome segregation in sexual transmission stages.","date":"2023","source":"Nature communications","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37704606","citation_count":29,"is_preprint":false,"source_species":["Pf"],"role":"primary","match_terms":["myosin K"],"competing_organism_flag":false,"competing_organism_match":"","competing_organism_only":false},{"pmid":"15754360","id":"PMC_15754360","title":"Plasmodium falciparum myosins: transcription and translation during asexual parasite development.","date":"2005","source":"Cell motility and the cytoskeleton","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15754360","citation_count":17,"is_preprint":false,"source_species":["Pf"],"role":"primary","match_terms":["curated_ref"],"competing_organism_flag":false,"competing_organism_match":"","competing_organism_only":false}],"cost":{"stage1":{"model":"claude-sonnet-4-6","input_tokens":4336,"output_tokens":842,"usd":0.012819,"stage1_stop_reason":"end_turn"},"stage2":{"model":"claude-opus-4-8","input_tokens":5532,"output_tokens":1733,"usd":0.035493,"stage2_stop_reason":"end_turn"},"total_usd":0.048312,"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\": 2019,\n      \"finding\": \"Gene deletion analysis indicated that MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) is likely essential in the asexual blood stages of Plasmodium berghei, as attempts to delete the gene were unsuccessful.\",\n      \"method\": \"Gene deletion / knockout attempt in Plasmodium berghei with assessment of essentiality in asexual blood stages\",\n      \"journal\": \"Cellular microbiology\",\n      \"confidence\": \"Medium\",\n      \"confidence_rationale\": \"Tier 2 / Weak — clean KO attempt with defined essentiality phenotype, but single lab, single method, and 'likely essential' indicates incomplete deletion rather than conditional KO with full mechanistic characterization\",\n      \"pmids\": [\"31283102\"],\n      \"is_preprint\": false,\n      \"attribution\": [\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium berghei\", \"strain\": \"\"}\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"year\": 2023,\n      \"finding\": \"MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) was identified as a putative interactor of ARK2 (aurora-related kinase 2) in Plasmodium berghei sexual stages, co-localising with ARK2 at spindle microtubules in the vicinity of kinetochores during mitosis and meiosis.\",\n      \"method\": \"Interactomic mass spectrometry (co-immunoprecipitation/pulldown) and co-localisation studies by super-resolution microscopy and live-cell fluorescence imaging\",\n      \"journal\": \"Nature communications\",\n      \"confidence\": \"Low\",\n      \"confidence_rationale\": \"Tier 3 / Weak — single Co-IP/MS identification with co-localisation, described as 'putative' interactor, single lab, no functional validation of the MyoK–ARK2 interaction specifically\",\n      \"pmids\": [\"37704606\"],\n      \"is_preprint\": false,\n      \"attribution\": [\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium berghei\", \"strain\": \"\"}\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"year\": 2005,\n      \"finding\": \"RT-PCR demonstrated that the MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) transcript is present in asexual blood stages of P. falciparum, showing developmentally regulated transcription; however, protein-level expression and translation timing were not specifically characterized for MyoK in this study.\",\n      \"method\": \"RT-PCR on blood stage parasite mRNA across developmental stages\",\n      \"journal\": \"Cell motility and the cytoskeleton\",\n      \"confidence\": \"Low\",\n      \"confidence_rationale\": \"Tier 4 / Weak — transcript detection only, no protein-level or mechanistic data for MyoK specifically; single lab, single method\",\n      \"pmids\": [\"15754360\"],\n      \"is_preprint\": false,\n      \"attribution\": [\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium falciparum\", \"strain\": \"\"}\n      ]\n    }\n  ],\n  \"current_model\": \"MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) is a putative myosin that is likely essential for asexual blood-stage proliferation in Plasmodium, and has been identified as a putative interactor of the aurora-related kinase ARK2 at spindle microtubules during sexual-stage division, but its precise molecular function and mechanism of action remain uncharacterized.\"\n}\n```","stage2_raw":"{\n  \"mechanistic_narrative\": \"MyoK (PF3D7_1140500) is a putative myosin of Plasmodium whose transcript is present and developmentally regulated across asexual blood stages of P. falciparum [#2], and whose gene is likely essential for asexual blood-stage proliferation in P. berghei, where knockout attempts failed [#0]. In P. berghei sexual stages, MyoK has been identified as a putative interactor of the aurora-related kinase ARK2, co-localising with ARK2 at spindle microtubules near kinetochores during mitosis and meiosis [#1]. Beyond this membership in the ARK2 interactome and its likely essentiality, the molecular activity, motor function, and mechanism of action of MyoK have not been characterized in the available corpus.\",\n  \"teleology\": [\n    {\n      \"year\": 2005,\n      \"claim\": \"Establishing whether MyoK is expressed at all in blood-stage parasites was the first step; RT-PCR showed its transcript is present and developmentally regulated, indicating the gene is transcribed during asexual proliferation.\",\n      \"evidence\": \"RT-PCR on blood-stage parasite mRNA across developmental stages in P. falciparum\",\n      \"pmids\": [\"15754360\"],\n      \"confidence\": \"Low\",\n      \"gaps\": [\n        \"Transcript detection only; no protein-level expression or translation timing established for MyoK\",\n        \"No functional or mechanistic role assigned\",\n        \"Single lab, single method\"\n      ],\n      \"attribution\": [\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium falciparum\", \"strain\": \"\"}\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"year\": 2019,\n      \"claim\": \"Whether MyoK is required for parasite viability was addressed by attempting gene deletion; failure to recover knockouts indicated the gene is likely essential in asexual blood stages, marking it as functionally important despite its uncharacterized role.\",\n      \"evidence\": \"Gene deletion / knockout attempt in P. berghei with assessment of asexual blood-stage essentiality\",\n      \"pmids\": [\"31283102\"],\n      \"confidence\": \"Medium\",\n      \"gaps\": [\n        \"'Likely essential' inferred from failed deletion rather than a conditional knockout with a defined phenotype\",\n        \"No mechanistic explanation for why the gene is essential\",\n        \"Single lab, single method\"\n      ],\n      \"attribution\": [\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium berghei\", \"strain\": \"\"}\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"year\": 2023,\n      \"claim\": \"The first physical/spatial context for MyoK came from ARK2 interactomics, which identified MyoK as a putative ARK2 interactor co-localising at spindle microtubules near kinetochores, placing MyoK in the vicinity of the sexual-stage division machinery.\",\n      \"evidence\": \"Co-IP/pulldown mass spectrometry with super-resolution and live-cell fluorescence co-localisation in P. berghei sexual stages\",\n      \"pmids\": [\"37704606\"],\n      \"confidence\": \"Low\",\n      \"gaps\": [\n        \"Single Co-IP/MS identification described as 'putative' with no reciprocal validation of the MyoK–ARK2 interaction specifically\",\n        \"No functional test of what MyoK does at the spindle\",\n        \"Interaction and localisation shown in sexual stages, not asexual stages where essentiality was inferred\"\n      ],\n      \"attribution\": [\n        {\"species\": \"Plasmodium berghei\", \"strain\": \"\"}\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"year\": null,\n      \"claim\": \"The core molecular function of MyoK — whether it acts as an active motor, its binding partners, its cargo or filament substrate, and how its likely essentiality relates to its spindle-associated localisation — remains unresolved.\",\n      \"evidence\": \"No biochemical, structural, or conditional loss-of-function characterization of MyoK exists in the corpus\",\n      \"pmids\": [],\n      \"confidence\": \"Low\",\n      \"gaps\": [\n        \"No demonstrated motor or enzymatic activity for MyoK\",\n        \"No conditional knockout linking essentiality to a specific cellular process\",\n        \"MyoK–ARK2 interaction not functionally validated\"\n      ],\n      \"attribution\": []\n    }\n  ],\n  \"mechanism_profile\": {\n    \"molecular_activity\": [],\n    \"localization\": [\n      {\"term_id\": \"GO:0005876\", \"supporting_discovery_ids\": [1]}\n    ],\n    \"pathway\": [],\n    \"complexes\": [],\n    \"partners\": [\"ARK2 (aurora-related kinase 2) — putative interactor [#1]\"],\n    \"other_free_text\": [\n      \"Putative myosin; molecular motor activity not experimentally demonstrated in the corpus.\",\n      \"Likely essential in asexual blood stages of P. berghei based on failed gene deletion [#0].\",\n      \"Transcript developmentally regulated across asexual blood stages of P. falciparum [#2].\",\n      \"Co-localises with ARK2 at spindle microtubules near kinetochores during mitosis and meiosis in P. berghei sexual stages [#1].\"\n    ]\n  }\n}","audit_flag":null,"strains":[{"strain":"Pf3D7","gene_id":"PF3D7_1140500","name":null,"product":"myosin K, putative","uniprot_acc":null,"chromosome":null,"start_pos":null},{"strain":"PbANKA","gene_id":"PBANKA_0908500","name":null,"product":"myosin K","uniprot_acc":null,"chromosome":null,"start_pos":null},{"strain":"PkH","gene_id":"PKNH_0938300","name":null,"product":"myosin K, putative","uniprot_acc":null,"chromosome":null,"start_pos":null}],"gene_symbol":"MyoK","evaluation":null}