PF3D7_0110800

PF3D7_0110800 is computationally predicted to be the P. falciparum ortholog of the general transcription initiation factor TFIIB, a component of the basal RNA polymerase II machinery, based on sequence analysis (Hydrophobic Cluster Analysis and PSI-BLAST) (PMID:16042788). A homology-based structural model of the P. falciparum TBP–TFIIB complex places PF3D7_0110800 at an interface with pfTBP analogous to that of other eukaryotic homologs, while identifying species-specific interface residues distinct from the human complex (PMID:15950069). Beyond these computational predictions (PMID:16042788, PMID:15950069), no direct experimental validation of the function, interactions, localization, or structure of PF3D7_0110800 has been reported in the available corpus.

1. 2005 Low

   Before this work the identity of the P. falciparum basal transcription machinery was unclear; sequence analysis assigned PF3D7_0110800 as a candidate TFIIB ortholog, establishing a first hypothesis for its place in RNA polymerase II transcription.

   Evidence Computational sequence analysis (Hydrophobic Cluster Analysis, PSI-BLAST profile-based search) in P. falciparum

   PMID:16042788

   Open questions at the time

   • Prediction is computational only; no experimental confirmation of TFIIB function or RNA Pol II association
   • No demonstration that the protein is expressed or participates in transcription in vivo
   • No biochemical or genetic validation of the ortholog assignment
2. 2005 Low

   To ask how the predicted factor might engage the transcription machinery, a homology model of the pfTBP–pfTFIIB complex was built, inferring that PF3D7_0110800 binds pfTBP through an interface with conserved architecture but species-specific residues relative to humans.

   Evidence Comparative homology modelling with energy minimization and interface residue analysis, benchmarked against TBP/TFIIB mutant data from other organisms, in P. falciparum

   PMID:15950069

   Open questions at the time

   • Interaction is inferred from a model, not from Co-IP, pulldown, or an in vitro binding assay
   • The distinct interface residues are not experimentally tested for their effect on binding
   • No experimental structure of the P. falciparum complex exists

• Whether PF3D7_0110800 functions as a TFIIB in vivo, physically associates with pfTBP and RNA polymerase II, and drives transcription initiation in P. falciparum remains experimentally unestablished.
• No experimental confirmation of the pfTBP–pfTFIIB interaction
• No functional, genetic, or localization data for the protein
• No experimentally determined structure