Plasmodium berghei proteome changes in response to SSJ-183 treatment

The benzo[a]phenoxazine derivative, SSJ-183 has shown excellent anti-malarial efficacy and safety. However, its mechanism of action is unclear. We investigated the effect of SSJ-183 on the rodent malarial parasite, Plasmodium berghei. We analyzed changes in protein expression in the erythrocytic cycle of P. berghei with or without 18 h of SSJ-183 treatment by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. We confirmed results with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization quadrupole ion trap time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry. After treatment, seven main proteins were significantly down-regulated, and two were up-regulated; results were reproduced in three independent tests. Some of these proteins were hypothetical parasite proteins or unnamed host products. However, three proteins were identified as a heat shock protein, a disulfide isomerase precursor, and berghepain-2 from P. berghei. All three showed reduced expression after SSJ-183 treatment. This suggested that SSJ-183 was a good anti-malarial drug candidate because it targeted parasite chaperone proteins.