Malaria infected red blood cells release small regulatory RNAs through extracellular vesicles.

ABSTRACT: The parasite Plasmodium falciparum causes the most severe form of malaria. Cell communication between parasites is an important mechanism to control population density and differentiation. The infected red blood cells (iRBCs) release small extracellular vesicles (EVs) that transfer cargoes between cells. The EVs synchronize the differentiation of the asexual parasites into gametocytes to initiate the transmission to the mosquito. Beside their role in parasite communication, EVs regulate vascular function. So far, the exact cargoes responsible for cellular communication remain unknown. We isolated EVs from cultured iRBCs to determine their small RNA content. We identified several types of human and plasmodial regulatory RNAs. While the miRNAs and tRNA-derived fragments were the most abundan

SUBMITTER: Babatunde KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5772623 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature