Deconvolution of Microarray Data Predicts Transcriptionally Regulated Protein Kinases of Plasmodium falciparum

We have developed a computational approach which predicts the protein kinases that may regulate the transition between the blood developmental stages of Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum). To improve the accuracy of our prediction, synchronized gene expression levels are reconstructed from the observed micro array data generated by the ensembles of non-synchronized cells. Peaks in annotated protein kinase transcript levels are hypothesized to directly correlate with the period when the encoded protein kinases function temporally. Therefore, protein kinases, which putatively regulate a given developmental stage transition, are identified by their peak in synchronized gene expression levels. By analyzing publicly available micro array data set, a few protein kinases are considered to be strongly associated with developmental stage transition. Two of these (PF13 0211, PFB0815w) have recently been implicated in the schizont to ring transition [1], [2]. Another one of these identified (MAL7P1.144) has been found to influence erythrocyte membrane in both trophozoite and schizont [3]. Overall, these results suggest that further functional analysis of the other protein kinases we have predicted may reveal new insights into P. falciparum blood stage development.