Long-distance coupling in a promiscuous protein

A protein called the P. falciparum hexose transporter 1 (PfHTl) has a proclivity for scavenging sugars from an infected host's red blood cells to improve the parasite's chances of survival in these cells, and is therefore a drug target. Red blood cells infected by P. falciparum consume about 100 times more glucose than do non-infected cells4 because the parasite continuously metabolizes sugars from these cells to support its growth and replication. Because PfHT1 is responsible for transporting sugars from host cells, it has a crucial role in supporting this metabolism. [...]the ability of PfHT1, unlike its human counterparts, to transport many similar substrates results from its substrate-driven gating dynamics, which allows it to adopt the occluded conformation more easily and rapidly.