{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T15:02:49Z","timestamp":1785164569383,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,25]],"date-time":"2022-04-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1650844800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["32150710530"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32150710530"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003453","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2019A1515011979"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019A1515011979"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003453","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100013314","name":"111 Project","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["D20008"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["D20008"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100013314","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are important in calcium influx, triggering several biological processes in <jats:italic>Cryptosporidium<\/jats:italic> spp. As they are not present in mammals, CDPKs are considered promising drug targets. Recent studies have characterized <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK1, <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK3, <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK4, <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK5, <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK6, and <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK9, but the role of <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CPK2A remains unclear. In this work, we expressed recombinant <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK2A encoded by the cgd2_1060 gene in <jats:italic>Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic> and characterized the biologic functions of <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK2A using qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence microscopy, immuno-electron microscopy, and <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic> neutralization. The results revealed that <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK2A protein was highly expressed in the apical region of sporozoites and merozoites and in macrogamonts. Monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK2A failed to block the invasion of host cells. Among the 44 candidate inhibitors from molecular docking of <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK2A, one inhibitor was identified as having a potential effect on both <jats:italic>Cryptosporidium parvum<\/jats:italic> growth and <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK2A enzyme activities. These data suggest that <jats:italic>Cp<\/jats:italic>CDPK2A may play some roles during the development of <jats:italic>C. parvum<\/jats:italic> and might be a potential drug target against cryptosporidiosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2022.883674","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,26]],"date-time":"2022-04-26T19:52:26Z","timestamp":1651002746000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Characterization of Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase 2A, a Potential Drug Target Against Cryptosporidiosis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Fanfan","family":"Shu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenlun","family":"Chu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuehua","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziding","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaqiong","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaoyu","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lihua","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Na","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"774","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1715443115","article-title":"PfCDPK1 is critical for malaria parasite gametogenesis and mosquito infection","volume":"115","author":"Bansal","year":"2018","journal-title":"Proc. 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