9N5K | pdb_00009n5k

Endogenous Pfs230D9-14 in complex with Pfs48/45

• PDB DOI: https://doi.org/10.2210/pdb9N5K/pdb
• EM Map EMD-48924: EMDB EMDataResource

• Classification: CELL ADHESION
• Organism(s): Plasmodium falciparum 3D7
• Mutation(s): No 


• Deposited: 2025-02-04 Released: 2025-10-15 
• Deposition Author(s): Heide, F., Ivanochko, D., Bekkering, E., Yoo, R., Hailemariam, S., Julien, J.P.
• Funding Organization(s): Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

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Experimental Data Snapshot

• Method: ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
• Resolution: 4.70 Å
• Aggregation State: PARTICLE 
• Reconstruction Method: SINGLE PARTICLE 

Starting Model: in silico

Literature

Structure of endogenous Pfs230:Pfs48/45 in complex with potent malaria transmission-blocking antibodies.

Bekkering, E.T., Yoo, R., Hailemariam, S., Heide, F., Ivanochko, D., Jackman, M., Proellochs, N.I., Stoter, R., van Gemert, G.J., Maeda, A., Yuguchi, T., Wanders, O.T., van Daalen, R.C., Inklaar, M.R., Andrade, C.M., Jansen, P.W.T.C., Vermeulen, M., Bousema, T., Takashima, E., Rubinstein, J.L., Kooij, T.W.A., Jore, M.M., Julien, J.P.

(2025) bioRxiv 

• PubMed: 39990443 
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.14.638310
• Primary Citation Related Structures: 
  9N5H, 9N5K, 9N5O


• PubMed Abstract: 
  

  The Pfs230:Pfs48/45 complex forms the basis for leading malaria transmission-blocking vaccine candidates, yet little is known about its molecular assembly. Here, we used cryogenic electron microscopy to elucidate the structure of the endogenous Pfs230:Pfs48/45 complex bound to six potent transmission-blocking antibodies. Pfs230 consists of multiple domain clusters rigidified by interactions mediated through insertion domains. Membrane-anchored Pfs48/45 forms a disc-like structure and interacts with a short C-terminal peptide on Pfs230 that is critical for Pfs230 membrane-retention in vivo . Interestingly, membrane retention through this interaction is not essential for transmission to mosquitoes, suggesting that complex disruption is not a mode of action for transmission-blocking antibodies. Analyses of Pfs48/45- and Pfs230-targeted antibodies identify conserved epitopes on the Pfs230:Pfs48/45 complex and provides a structural paradigm for complement-dependent activity of Pfs230-targeting antibodies. Altogether, the antibody-bound Pfs230:Pfs48/45 structure presented improves our molecular understanding of this biological complex, informing the development of next-generation Plasmodium falciparum transmission-blocking interventions.

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Organizational Affiliation: 
• Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands.
These authors contributed equally.
Program in Molecular Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Senior authors.
Division of Malaria Research, Proteo-Science Center, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Japan.
Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, Oncode Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Division of Molecular Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Biological Assembly 1  

Global Symmetry: Asymmetric - C1 
Global Stoichiometry: Hetero 2-mer - A1B1 

Biological assembly 1 assigned by authors and generated by (software)

Biological Assembly Evidence: electron microscopy

Macromolecule Content 

• Total Structure Weight: 415.25 kDa 
• Atom Count: 9,494 
• Modeled Residue Count: 1,476 
• Deposited Residue Count: 3,583 
• Unique protein chains: 2

Macromolecules

Entity ID: 1
Molecule	Chains	Sequence Length	Organism	Details	Image
Gametocyte surface protein P230	A	3,135	Plasmodium falciparum 3D7	Mutation(s): 0
UniProt
Find proteins for P68874 (Plasmodium falciparum (isolate 3D7)) Explore P68874  Go to UniProtKB:  P68874

Entity ID: 2
Molecule	Chains	Sequence Length	Organism	Details	Image
Gametocyte surface protein P45/48	B [auth D]	448	Plasmodium falciparum 3D7	Mutation(s): 0
UniProt
Find proteins for Q8I6T1 (Plasmodium falciparum (isolate 3D7)) Explore Q8I6T1  Go to UniProtKB:  Q8I6T1

Experimental Data & Validation

Experimental Data

• Method: ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
• Resolution: 4.70 Å
• Aggregation State: PARTICLE 
• Reconstruction Method: SINGLE PARTICLE 

EM Software:

Task	Software Package	Version
RECONSTRUCTION	cryoSPARC	v4.6.0
MODEL REFINEMENT	PHENIX	1.21_5207

Structure Validation

Entry History 

& Funding Information

Deposition Data

• Released Date: 2025-10-15 
Deposition Author(s): Heide, F., Ivanochko, D., Bekkering, E., Yoo, R., Hailemariam, S., Julien, J.P.

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Funding Organization	Location	Grant Number
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)	Canada	--

Revision History  

• Version 1.0: 2025-10-15
  Type: Initial release
  
• Version 1.1: 2025-10-22
  Changes: Data collection, Database references