Affinage · Plasmodium

PF3D7_1365900

ubiquitin-60S ribosomal protein L40

Annotated
2026-09-08
6 papers in source corpus 2 papers cited in narrative 2 extracted findings

Mechanistic narrative

Synthesis pass · prose summary of the discoveries below

PF3D7_1365900 (L40) is a structural component of the 60S large subunit of the P. falciparum 80S ribosome, resolved within the ribosomal architecture by 3.2 Å cryo-EM (PMID:24913268) and placed within the natively translating ribosome by in situ cryo-electron tomography inside infected erythrocytes (PMID:40825879). Beyond this membership in the 60S ribosomal subunit, no mechanistic role for L40/PF3D7_1365900 distinct from the ribosomal complex has been characterized in the available corpus.

Mechanistic history

Synthesis pass · year-by-year structured walk · 2 steps
  1. 2014 Low

    The structural context of the P. falciparum large ribosomal subunit was undefined at high resolution; solving the 80S ribosome established where 60S components including L40 sit within the ribosomal architecture.

    Evidence Cryo-EM structure determination of the P. falciparum 80S ribosome at 3.2 Å resolution

    PMID:24913268

    Open questions at the time
    • No functional or mechanistic role assigned to L40/PF3D7_1365900 individually beyond membership in the 60S subunit
    • Ribosome was not captured in an actively translating state
    • No test of whether L40 is essential or has an extra-ribosomal function
  2. 2025 Low

    Whether L40 occupies its ribosomal position in the physiologically active, translating ribosome in vivo was unresolved; in situ tomography confirmed its placement within the native 60S subunit during translation inside infected erythrocytes.

    Evidence In situ cryo-electron tomography yielding eight high-resolution structures of the native ribosome in translating states within infected erythrocytes

    PMID:40825879

    Open questions at the time
    • No specific mechanistic function reported for L40 individually beyond ribosomal membership
    • No evidence addressing an independent role for the ubiquitin moiety fused to L40
    • No essentiality or perturbation data for L40 in P. falciparum

Open questions

Synthesis pass · forward-looking unresolved questions
  • Whether L40/PF3D7_1365900 has any function distinct from its structural role in the 60S ribosomal subunit — including any role of its ubiquitin fusion component — remains uncharacterized in the available corpus.
  • No biochemical, genetic, or functional assay specific to L40 exists in the corpus
  • The role of the ubiquitin domain (co-translational processing, ribosome biogenesis) has not been examined
  • No interaction partners beyond the ribosome established for L40 itself

Mechanism profile

Synthesis pass · controlled-vocabulary classification
Complex memberships
60S large ribosomal subunit of the P. falciparum 80S ribosome

Evidence

Reading pass · 2 per-paper findings extracted from the source corpus
Year Finding Method Journal Conf PMIDs
2014 The cryo-EM structure of the P. falciparum 80S ribosome at 3.2 Å resolution was solved, revealing the structural context of the large ribosomal subunit including 60S components such as L40 (PF3D7_1365900) as part of the ribosomal architecture. However, no specific mechanistic finding about L40/PF3D7_1365900 individually was reported beyond its membership in the 60S ribosomal subunit. Cryo-EM structure determination at 3.2 Å resolution eLife Low 24913268
2025 In situ cryo-electron tomography structures of the native P. falciparum 80S ribosome in actively translating states were determined inside infected erythrocytes, placing L40 (PF3D7_1365900) as a structural component of the 60S subunit within the physiologically active ribosome. No specific mechanistic finding about L40 individually beyond its membership in the ribosomal complex was reported. In situ cryo-electron tomography; eight high-resolution structures of the native ribosome in translating states Nature structural & molecular biology Low 40825879

Source papers

Stage 0 corpus · 6 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
2017 Mefloquine targets the Plasmodium falciparum 80S ribosome to inhibit protein synthesis. Nature microbiology 136 28288098
2015 Dynamical features of the Plasmodium falciparum ribosome during translation. Nucleic acids research 45 26432834
2010 Assessing functional annotation transfers with inter-species conserved coexpression: application to Plasmodium falciparum. BMC genomics 12 20078859
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