Evidence against a Role of Elevated Intracellular Ca²⁺ during Plasmodium falciparum Preinvasion.

ABSTRACT: Severe malaria is primarily caused by Plasmodium falciparum parasites during their asexual reproduction cycle within red blood cells. One of the least understood stages in this cycle is the brief preinvasion period during which merozoite-red cell contacts lead to apical alignment of the merozoite in readiness for penetration, a stage of major relevance in the control of invasion efficiency. Red blood cell deformations associated with this process were suggested to be active plasma membrane responses mediated by transients of elevated intracellular calcium. Few studies have addressed this hypothesis because of technical challenges, and the results remained inconclusive. Here, Fluo-4 was used as a fluorescent calcium indicator with optimized protocols to investigate the distribution of the d

SUBMITTER: Introini V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5954356 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature