ArticlePLoS pathogens2015
Revealing the sequence and resulting cellular morphology of receptor-ligand interactions during Plasmodium falciparum invasion of erythrocytes.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 179 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
179 citing papers in PubMed, 335 citations in OpenAlex.
- Host iron status and erythropoietic response to iron supplementation determines susceptibility to the RBC stage of falciparum malaria during pregnancy.Scientific reports · 2017Trial
- Inhibition of merozoite invasion and transient de-sequestration by sevuparin in humans with Plasmodium falciparum malaria.PloS one · 2017Trial
- Plasmepsins as Antimalarial Drug Targets-Then, Now, and the Future.Medicinal research reviews · 2026Review
- Clustering of host N-glycans by the microneme MIC1/4/6 complex licenses Toxoplasma rhoptry discharge.The EMBO journal · 2026Article
- An abundant merozoite surface protein ofeLife · 2026Article
- The apical polar ring is essential during the blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Targeting protein-protein interactions in Plasmodium: from asexual replication to sexual development.Parasites & vectors · 2026Review
- RALP1 is essential for schizont maturation and erythrocyte invasion in Plasmodium falciparum.Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Invasion preferences suggest a possible role for Plasmodium falciparum parasites in the expansion of Duffy negativity in West and Central Africa.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Babesia divergens host cell egress is mediated by essential and druggable kinases and proteases.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Erythrocyte invasion in malaria: from molecular mechanisms to rational vaccines.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- PTRAMP, CSS and Ripr form a conserved complex required for merozoite invasion of Plasmodium species into erythrocytes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The essential function of the apical polar ring during the blood stage ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Beyond VAR2CSA: redefining the antigenic landscape of placental malaria vaccines.Open research Africa · 2026Review
- Physiology of invasiveFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- CD44 cross-linking promotes Plasmodium falciparum invasion.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The pattern of gene amplification of members of the Plasmodium vivax erythrocyte binding-like proteins family across the Amazon rainforest.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Sialyl-T Antigen: A Novel Red Blood Cell Determinant for Plasmodium falciparum Invasion.American journal of hematology · 2025Article
- Article
- Perforation of the host cell plasma membrane during Toxoplasma invasion requires rhoptry exocytosis.EMBO reports · 2025Article
119 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
During blood stage Plasmodium falciparum infection, merozoites invade uninfected erythrocytes via a complex, multistep process involving a series of distinct receptor-ligand binding events. Understanding each element in this process increases the potential to block the parasite's life cycle via drugs or vaccines. To investigate specific receptor-ligand interactions, they were systematically blocked using a combination of genetic deletion, enzymatic receptor cleavage and inhibition of binding via antibodies, peptides and small molecules, and the resulting temporal changes in invasion and morphological effects on erythrocytes were filmed using live cell imaging. Analysis of the videos have shown receptor-ligand interactions occur in the following sequence with the following cellular morphologies; 1) an early heparin-blockable interaction which weakly deforms the erythrocyte, 2) EBA and PfRh ligands which strongly deform the erythrocyte, a process dependant on the merozoite's actin-myosin motor, 3) a PfRh5-basigin binding step which results in a pore or opening between parasite and host through which it appears small molecules and possibly invasion components can flow and 4) an AMA1-RON2 interaction that mediates tight junction formation, which acts as an anchor point for internalization. In addition to enhancing general knowledge of apicomplexan biology, this work provides a rational basis to combine sequentially acting merozoite vaccine candidates in a single multi-receptor-blocking vaccine.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.