Affinage · Plasmodium

PF3D7_1242700

40S ribosomal protein S17, putative

Annotated
2026-09-08
5 papers in source corpus 3 papers cited in narrative 3 extracted findings

Mechanistic narrative

Synthesis pass · prose summary of the discoveries below

PF3D7_1242700 (S17) is a structural component of the small (40S) subunit of the P. falciparum cytoplasmic 80S ribosome, established by cryo-EM of the intact ribosome purified from blood-stage schizonts (PMID:24913268, PMID:26432834) and confirmed in the native cellular context by in situ cryo-electron tomography of actively translating ribosomes inside infected human erythrocytes (PMID:40825879). In these in situ data the malarial 80S ribosome was resolved across eight translational states, placing S17 within the small subunit during physiological translation (PMID:40825879). Beyond its membership in the 40S subunit, no biochemical function or S17-specific interaction has been characterized in the available corpus.

Mechanistic history

Synthesis pass · year-by-year structured walk · 3 steps
  1. 2014 Medium

    The first high-resolution structure of the P. falciparum 80S ribosome was needed to define subunit composition and drug-binding sites; it placed S17 within the small subunit of the intact cytoplasmic ribosome.

    Evidence Cryo-EM structure determination of the intact 80S ribosome at 3.2 Å resolution

    PMID:24913268

    Open questions at the time
    • No functional data specific to S17 beyond its structural placement in the 40S subunit
    • No S17-specific interactions or roles in translation resolved
    • Single structural study
  2. 2015 Medium

    Independent confirmation of subunit assignments was needed; multiple cryo-EM reconstructions with atomic model building reaffirmed S17 as a constituent of the 40S small subunit.

    Evidence Cryo-EM reconstruction and atomic model building by flexible fitting from schizont-purified 80S ribosomes

    PMID:26432834

    Open questions at the time
    • Still no functional assay specific to S17
    • No characterization of S17 outside the assembled ribosome
  3. 2025 Medium

    Whether the subunit membership held in the physiological cellular context was unresolved; in situ cryo-electron tomography of translating ribosomes confirmed S17 as part of the small subunit inside infected erythrocytes across eight translational states.

    Evidence In situ cryo-electron tomography of actively translating ribosomes in infected human erythrocytes

    PMID:40825879

    Open questions at the time
    • No S17-specific functional experiment; role inferred only from structural presence
    • Inhibitor-induced state changes were observed at the whole-ribosome level, not attributed to S17

Open questions

Synthesis pass · forward-looking unresolved questions
  • No experiment has yet defined a biochemical function, binding partner, or non-ribosomal role for S17 beyond its membership in the 40S subunit.
  • No S17-specific loss-of-function or interaction study exists in the corpus
  • Contribution of S17 to 40S assembly or translation initiation is uncharacterized
  • Any extraribosomal or moonlighting function is unexplored

Mechanism profile

Synthesis pass · controlled-vocabulary classification
Complex memberships
40S small ribosomal subunit of the P. falciparum cytoplasmic 80S ribosome

Evidence

Reading pass · 3 per-paper findings extracted from the source corpus
Year Finding Method Journal Conf PMIDs
2014 Cryo-EM structure of the P. falciparum 80S ribosome at 3.2 Å resolution placed S17 (PF3D7_1242700) as a component of the small (40S) ribosomal subunit within the intact cytoplasmic ribosome; the structure also revealed that emetine binds the E-site of the small subunit and blocks mRNA/tRNA translocation. Cryo-EM structure determination at 3.2 Å resolution eLife Medium 24913268
2015 Multiple cryo-EM reconstructions of the P. falciparum 80S ribosome purified from blood-stage schizonts confirmed S17 (PF3D7_1242700) as a constituent of the 40S small subunit; atomic models were built by flexible fitting into sub-nanometer resolution density maps. Cryo-EM reconstruction and atomic model building (flexible fitting) Nucleic acids research Medium 26432834
2025 In situ cryo-electron tomography of actively translating P. falciparum ribosomes inside infected human erythrocytes resolved the native malarial 80S ribosome at high resolution in eight translational states, confirming S17 (PF3D7_1242700) as part of the small subunit in the physiological cellular context; inhibitor treatment caused changes in elongation-factor-bound ribosomal states and apparent upregulation of ribosome biogenesis. In situ cryo-electron tomography (in-cell, high-resolution, eight structural states) Nature structural & molecular biology Medium 40825879

Source papers

Stage 0 corpus · 5 papers · ranked by NIH iCite citations
Year Title Journal Citations PMID
2014 Cryo-EM structure of the Plasmodium falciparum 80S ribosome bound to the anti-protozoan drug emetine. eLife 272 24913268
2015 Dynamical features of the Plasmodium falciparum ribosome during translation. Nucleic acids research 45 26432834
2020 Genetic ablation of the mitoribosome in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum sensitizes it to antimalarials that target mitochondrial functions. The Journal of biological chemistry 27 32273345
2025 Integrated structural biology of the native malarial translation machinery and its inhibition by an antimalarial drug. Nature structural & molecular biology 7 40825879
2025 Antimalarial drug artemisinin stabilizes PfRACK1 binding to the ribosome. Structure (London, England : 1993) 3 40480224