Calcium dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) belong to a well defined gene product family that has only been found in plants and protists. In P. falciparum, five genes have been identified that encode five CDPKs (PfCDPK1-5) with 39% to 56% amino acid sequence identity. Since CDPKs do not exist in vertebrates, they represent promising targets for antimalarial therapy. It is the aim of this project to establish a system that will allow the recombinant expression of soluble and active PfCDPKs using a prokaryotic expression system. The isolated proteins will be purified and analyzed regarding yield, purity, structure, activity, kinetics and inhibition.