Putative prefoldin complex subunit 5 of Plasmodium berghei is crucial for microtubule formation and parasite development in the mosquito.

Plasmodium sporozoite development in and egress from oocysts in the Anopheles mosquito remains largely enigmatic. In a previously performed high-throughput knockout screen, the putative subunit 5 of the prefoldin complex (PbPCS5, PBANKA_0920100) was identified as essential for parasite development during mosquito and liver stage development. Here we generated and analyzed a PbPCS5 knockout parasite line during its development in the mosquito.

An Improved Method for Assessing Antigen Presentation on the Surface of Plasmodium falciparum-Infected Erythrocytes by Immuno-Electron Microscopy.

Immuno-electron microscopy can detect and localize antigens in cells or tissues at a resolution of several nanometers. In the case of P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes, immuno-EM studies are frequently hampered by the electron-dense nature of the hemoglobin and access of antibodies to antigenic sites, particularly if the targeted protein is presented on the host cell surface or lies in proximity to the host cell cytoskeleton.

Neurofilament light chain plasma levels are associated with area of brain damage in experimental cerebral malaria.

Neurofilament light chain (NfL), released during central nervous injury, has evolved as a powerful serum marker of disease severity in many neurological disorders, including infectious diseases. So far NfL has not been assessed in cerebral malaria in human or its rodent model experimental cerebral malaria (ECM), a disease that can lead to fatal brain edema or reversible brain edema. In this study we assessed if NfL serum levels can also grade disease severity in an ECM mouse model with reversible (n = 11) and irreversible edema (n = 10).

Asynchronous nuclear cycles in multinucleated facilitate rapid proliferation.

Malaria-causing parasites proliferate within erythrocytes through schizogony, forming multinucleated stages before cellularization. Nuclear multiplication does not follow a strict geometric 2 progression, and each proliferative cycle produces a variable number of progeny. Here, by tracking nuclei and DNA replication, we show that individual nuclei replicate their DNA at different times, despite residing in a shared cytoplasm.

Transcellular blood-brain barrier disruption in malaria-induced reversible brain edema.

Brain swelling occurs in cerebral malaria (CM) and may either reverse or result in fatal outcome. It is currently unknown how brain swelling in CM reverses, as brain swelling at the acute stage is difficult to study in humans and animal models with reliable induction of reversible edema are not known. In this study, we show that reversible brain swelling in experimental murine CM can be induced reliably after single vaccination with radiation-attenuated sporozoites as proven by in vivo high-field magnetic resonance imaging.