Membrane-wrapping contributions to malaria parasite invasion of the human erythrocyte.

ABSTRACT: The blood stage malaria parasite, the merozoite, has a small window of opportunity during which it must successfully target and invade a human erythrocyte. The process of invasion is nonetheless remarkably rapid. To date, mechanistic models of invasion have focused predominantly on the parasite actomyosin motor contribution to the energetics of entry. Here, we have conducted a numerical analysis using dimensions for an archetypal merozoite to predict the respective contributions of the host-parasite interactions to invasion, in particular the role of membrane wrapping. Our theoretical modeling demonstrates that erythrocyte membrane wrapping alone, as a function of merozoite adhesive and shape properties, is sufficient to entirely account for the first key step of the invasion process, that

SUBMITTER: Dasgupta S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4184798 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature