Journal article
Reversible host cell remodeling underpins deformability changes in malaria parasite sexual blood stages
M Dearnley, T Chu, Y Zhang, O Looker, C Huang, N Klonis, J Yeoman, S Kenny, M Arora, JM Osborne, R Chandramohanadas, S Zhang, MWA Dixon, L Tilley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | Published : 2016
Abstract
The sexual blood stage of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum undergoes remarkable biophysical changes as it prepares for transmission to mosquitoes. During maturation, midstage gametocytes show low deformability and sequester in the bone marrow and spleen cords, thus avoiding clearance during passage through splenic sinuses. Mature gametocytes exhibit increased deformability and reappear in the peripheral circulation, allowing uptake by mosquitoes. Here we define the reversible changes in erythrocyte membrane organization that underpin this biomechanical transformation. Atomic force microscopy reveals that the length of the spectrin crossmembers and the size of the skeletal mes..
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Grants
Awarded by Singapore University of Technology and Design
Awarded by National Science Foundation
Funding Acknowledgements
L.T. and M.W.A.D. thank Dr. Eric Hanssen (Advanced Microscopy Facility), Dr. Paul McMillan (Biological Optical Microscopy Facility), and Emma McHugh (University of Melbourne) for help with imaging. R.C. thanks Prof. Chwee Teck Lim and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Center (funded by the National Research Foundation, Singapore) for granting access to AFM facilities and laboratory infrastructure. L.T. and M.W.A.D. were supported by the Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council. T.C., M. A., and R.C. were supported by Singapore University of Technology and Design Grants SRLS13049 and SUTD-ZJU/RES/02/2013. Y.Z., C.J.H., and S.L.Z. were supported by National Science Foundation Grants CMMI-0754463 and CBET-1067523.