ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2016
Reversible host cell remodeling underpins deformability changes in malaria parasite sexual blood stages.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- An assay to quantify sexual commitment and stage conversion in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.Nature protocols · 2026Review
- Deciphering Membrane Protein Complexes in Plasmodium falciparum Gametocytes via Integrative Structural Systems Biology.Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP · 2026Article
- Adaptations in Plasmodium tubulin determine distinct microtubule architectures, mechanics and drug susceptibility.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Pair cross-correlation analysis for assessing protein co-localization.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- Targeting Bottlenecks in Malaria Transmission: Antibody-Epitope Descriptions Guide the Design of Next-Generation Biomedical Interventions.Immunological reviews · 2025Review
- Red blood cell passage through deformable interendothelial slits in the spleen: Insights into splenic filtration and hemodynamics.Computers in biology and medicine · 2024Article
- Biomechanics of phagocytosis of red blood cells by macrophages in the human spleen.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- A combined computational and experimental investigation of the filtration function of splenic macrophages in sickle cell disease.PLoS computational biology · 2023Article
- In silico and in vitro study of the adhesion dynamics of erythrophagocytosis in sickle cell disease.Biophysical journal · 2023Article
- Phenotypic Screens Identify Genetic Factors Associated with Gametocyte Development in the Human Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Isoliensinine from Cissampelos pariera rhizomes exhibits potential gametocytocidal and anti-malarial activities against Plasmodium falciparum clinical isolates.Malaria journal · 2023Article
- In silico modeling of patient-specific blood rheology in type 2 diabetes mellitus.Biophysical journal · 2023Article
- 2,3-Diphosphoglycerate and the Protective Effect of Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency against Malaria Infection-Exploring the Role of the Red Blood Cell Membrane.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Erythropoiesis and Malaria, a Multifaceted Interplay.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Circulating cell clusters aggravate the hemorheological abnormalities in COVID-19.Biophysical journal · 2022Article
- Repurposing the mitotic machinery to drive cellular elongation and chromatin reorganisation in Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Multiphysics and multiscale modeling of microthrombosis in COVID-19.PLoS computational biology · 2022Article
- Recent Advances in Computational Modeling of Biomechanics and Biorheology of Red Blood Cells in Diabetes.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The role of cholesterol in invasion and growth of malaria parasites.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- Blood Viscosity in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Roles of Hyperglycemia and Elevated Plasma Fibrinogen.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The sexual blood stage of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum undergoes remarkable biophysical changes as it prepares for transmission to mosquitoes. During maturation, midstage gametocytes show low deformability and sequester in the bone marrow and spleen cords, thus avoiding clearance during passage through splenic sinuses. Mature gametocytes exhibit increased deformability and reappear in the peripheral circulation, allowing uptake by mosquitoes. Here we define the reversible changes in erythrocyte membrane organization that underpin this biomechanical transformation. Atomic force microscopy reveals that the length of the spectrin cross-members and the size of the skeletal meshwork increase in developing gametocytes, then decrease in mature-stage gametocytes. These changes are accompanied by relocation of actin from the erythrocyte membrane to the Maurer's clefts. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching reveals reversible changes in the level of coupling between the membrane skeleton and the plasma membrane. Treatment of midstage gametocytes with cytochalasin D decreases the vertical coupling and increases their filterability. A computationally efficient coarse-grained model of the erythrocyte membrane reveals that restructuring and constraining the spectrin meshwork can fully account for the observed changes in deformability.
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