NUP313

NUP313 (PF3D7_1446500) is a nucleoporin component of the Plasmodium nuclear pore complex, identified through bioinformatic analysis and genetic tagging of P. berghei Nups with the P. falciparum ortholog assigned by homology (PMID:30050042). In P. berghei blood-stage parasites, ultrastructure expansion microscopy shows NUP313 distributed evenly around the nuclear periphery and organized into a rosette structure around the centriolar plaque during asexual replication (PMID:38405843). In P. falciparum, the endogenous locus has been GFP-tagged by CRISPR/Cas9, establishing that it is genetically tractable, but no localization or functional phenotype has been reported for the P. falciparum protein (PMID:41885428). Beyond its NPC membership and the P. berghei localization pattern, no substrates, interaction partners, or mechanistic function of NUP313 have been characterized in the available corpus.

1. 2018 Low

   Establishing which Plasmodium proteins constitute the nuclear pore complex was needed to define parasite nuclear architecture, and this work placed NUP313 among the identified nucleoporins.

   Evidence Bioinformatic identification with genetic tagging in P. berghei and homology-based ortholog assignment in P. falciparum

   PMID:30050042

   Open questions at the time

   • Identification is bioinformatic/homology-based with no functional mechanistic dissection of NUP313 specifically
   • No interaction partners or sub-complex assignment within the NPC established
   • P. falciparum ortholog assigned by homology only, not experimentally validated in this study
2. 2024 Medium

   Whether NUP313 has a defined spatial organization during replication was unknown; high-resolution imaging revealed an even nuclear-periphery distribution and a rosette around the centriolar plaque, linking the protein to the replication machinery.

   Evidence Ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM) of tagged Nup313 across the 24-hour blood-stage cycle in P. berghei (preprint)

   PMID:38405843

   Open questions at the time

   • Functional consequence of the centriolar-plaque rosette organization is not tested
   • Shown only in P. berghei; not demonstrated in P. falciparum
   • No interaction partners identified that mediate the rosette structure
3. 2026 Low

   Genetic tractability of the P. falciparum locus was needed for future study; endogenous GFP tagging demonstrated the locus can be edited, though it yielded no functional or localization data.

   Evidence Sequential CRISPR/Cas9-based endogenous GFP tagging in P. falciparum

   PMID:41885428

   Open questions at the time

   • No localization or functional phenotype for the P. falciparum protein was reported
   • Whether the P. berghei rosette localization is conserved in P. falciparum is untested
   • No essentiality or knockdown analysis performed

• The molecular function of NUP313 beyond NPC membership — its interaction partners, its role in nuclear transport, and the significance of its centriolar-plaque rosette during replication — remains unresolved.
• No substrates or cargo interactions identified
• No physical interaction partners within the NPC established for NUP313
• Functional role of the centriolar-plaque rosette during asexual replication untested