Microstructured blood vessel surrogates reveal structural tropism of motile malaria parasites

Muthinja, M. J. et al. (2017) Microstructured blood vessel surrogates reveal structural tropism of motile malaria parasites. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 6(6), 1601178. (doi: 10.1002/adhm.201601178) (PMID:28117558)

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Abstract

Plasmodium sporozoites, the highly motile forms of the malaria parasite, are transmitted naturally by mosquitoes and traverse the skin to find, associate with, and enter blood capillaries. Research aimed at understanding how sporozoites select blood vessels is hampered by the lack of a suitable experimental system. Arrays of uniform cylindrical pillars can be used to study small cells moving in controlled environments. Here, an array system displaying a variety of pillars with different diameters and shapes is developed in order to investigate how Plasmodium sporozoites associate to the pillars as blood vessel surrogates. Investigating the association of sporozoites to pillars in arrays displaying pillars of different diameters reveals that the crescent-shaped parasites prefer to associate with and migrate around pillars with a similar curvature. This suggests that after transmission by a mosquito, malaria parasites may use a structural tropism to recognize blood capillaries in the dermis in order to gain access to the blood stream.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Lemgruber Soares, Dr Leandro
Authors: Muthinja, M. J., Ripp, J., Hellmann, J. K., Haraszti, T., Dahan, N., Lemgruber, L., Battista, A., Schütz, L., Fackler, O. T., Schwarz, U. S., Spatz, J. P., and Frischknecht, F.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
Journal Name:Advanced Healthcare Materials
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:2192-2640
ISSN (Online):2192-2659
Published Online:24 January 2017
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2017 Wiley
First Published:First published in Advanced Healthcare Materials 6(6): 1601178
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

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