MSc (Biochemistry) / Department of Biochemistry / In 2017 malaria cases were estimated at 219 million and of these 435 000 resulted in death. Malaria is transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes which thrive in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Malaria is caused by five species from the genus Plasmodium, namely P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae and P. knowlesi. P. falciparum causes the most severe form of the disease. P. falciparum has a complex life cycle in the human and mosquito hosts exposing the parasite to environmental changes, resulting in upregulation of heat shock proteins (Hsps). These Hsps facilitate protein folding and protein disaggregation. Hsp70 is a molecular chaperone whose function is to facilitate protein folding. P. falciparum Hsp70-x is the only member of this family of proteins that is exported to the erythrocyte cytosol by the parasite. PfHsp70-x has been implicated in the development of malaria pathogenesis. This is largely due to its association with P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), an important virulent factor that is exposed to the exterior of the infected erythrocyte. In tumour cells, cell surface- bound Hsp70 is known to sensitize the tumour cells to cytolytic attack that is mediated by NK cells. Cell surface bound Hsp70 is thought to recruit NK cells and Granzyme B (GrB) via its 14 amino acid sequence, TKDNNLLGRFELSG, known as the TKD motif. Both PfHsp70-x and human Hsp70 (hHsp70) contain the TKD motif. Thus, this study sought to investigate the role of Hsp70 in facilitating the selective targeting of malaria parasite-infected erythrocytes by GrB. To this end, recombinant hHsp70 and PfHsp70-x were successfully expressed in E. coli and purified. Using slot blot and ELISA, it was observed that both PfHsp70-x and hHsp70 directly interact with GrB. PfHsp70-x showed greater affinity for GrB than hHsp70. In addition, using parasites cultured at the erythrocyte stage it was noted that GrB exhibits potent antiplasmodial activity (IC50 of 0.5μM). In addition, the findings suggest that GrB interacts with both Hsp70s (of parasite and human origin) resident in the infected erythrocyte. This makes GrB a promising antimalarial agent. / NRF