ArticlePLoS biology2004
Cell-passage activity is required for the malarial parasite to cross the liver sinusoidal cell layer.
Article in PLoS biology, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 117 papers.
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Who cites it
117 citing papers in PubMed.
- Delayed fractional dose regimen of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine candidate enhances an IgG4 response that inhibits serum opsonophagocytosis.Scientific reports · 2017Trial
- Host cell traversal by Plasmodium parasites drives sterilizing T cell-mediated immunity following immunization.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Innate immune sensing of Plasmodium sporozoite cell traversal drives protective T cell responses.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Evolutionary Rate Covariation Across Malaria Parasite Species Enables Inference of Protein Interactions.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Cas9-expressing HC-04 hepatocytes facilitate CRISPR-based analysis of Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite-host interactions.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- TEpiNom: A computational framework integrating population data to prioritize Plasmodium falciparum T cell epitopes.Vaccine · 2026Article
- Evolutionary rate covariation across malaria parasite species enables inference of protein interactions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Bivalent virus-like particles expressing SPECT1 and CSP trigger pre-erythrocytic malaria immunity and protect against transgenicFrontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Experimental models of liver-stage malaria: Progress, gaps, and challenges.PLoS pathogens · 2025Review
- Malaria vaccines: Current developments and immunological insights.New microbes and new infections · 2025Article
- Identification of a novel rhoptry protein expressed predominantly inFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Monoclonal antibodies to the circumsporozoite proteins as an emerging tool for malaria prevention.Nature immunology · 2024Review
- Naturally acquired antibodies against Plasmodium vivax pre-erythrocytic stage vaccine antigens inhibit sporozoite invasion of human hepatocytes in vitro.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Longitudinal analysis of antibody responses to Plasmodium vivax sporozoite antigens following natural infection.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Preliminary characterization of Plasmodium vivax sporozoite antigens as pre-erythrocytic vaccine candidates.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Rhoptry neck protein 4 plays important roles duringmSphere · 2023Article
- The claudin-like apicomplexan microneme protein is required for gliding motility and infectivity of Plasmodium sporozoites.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Article
- Autophagy in protists and their hosts: When, how and why?Autophagy reports · 2023Article
- Overexpression of hepatocyte EphA2 enhances liver-stage infection by Plasmodium vivax.Scientific reports · 2022Article
57 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Liver infection is an obligatory step in malarial transmission, but it remains unclear how the sporozoites gain access to the hepatocytes, which are separated from the circulatory system by the liver sinusoidal cell layer. We found that a novel microneme protein, named sporozoite microneme protein essential for cell traversal (SPECT), is produced by the liver-infective sporozoite of the rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium berghei. Targeted disruption of the spect gene greatly reduced sporozoite infectivity to the liver. In vitro cell invasion assays revealed that these disruptants can infect hepatocytes normally but completely lack their cell passage ability. Their apparent liver infectivity was, however, restored by depletion of Kupffer cells, hepatic macrophages included in the sinusoidal cell layer. These results show that malarial sporozoites access hepatocytes through the liver sinusoidal cell layer by cell traversal motility mediated by SPECT and strongly suggest that Kupffer cells are main routes for this passage. Our findings may open the way for novel malaria transmission-blocking strategies that target molecules involved in sporozoite migration to the hepatocyte.
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