Over 100 years ago, Georg Maurer wrote one of the finest scientific accounts of what is now known as Maurer's dots, or clefts, describing the intracellular changes in red blood cells infected with Plasmodium falciparum. Maurer's clefts have since attracted much attention, and they form an intriguing aspect of parasite biology that may hold the key to the mechanisms by which the intracellular parasite alters red blood cell properties, leading to host pathogenesis and death. This review will focus on the description of the morphology of these clefts, from the first light-microscopic report up to recent three-dimensional reconstructions. Detailed knowledge of these structures should further our understanding of their functions.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2007.08.008 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Subversion from Within and Without: Effector Molecule Transfer from Obligate Intracellular Apicomplexan Parasites to Human Host Cells.
Results Probl Cell Differ
September 2024
Department of Biotechnology, TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi, India.
Intracellular protozoan pathogens have to negotiate the internal environment of the host cell they find themselves in, as well as manipulate the host cell to ensure their own survival, replication, and dissemination. The transfer of key effector molecules from the pathogen to the host cell is crucial to this interaction and is technically more demanding to study as compared to an extracellular pathogen. While several effector molecules have been identified, the mechanisms and conditions underlying their transfer to the host cell remain partly or entirely unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGiant membrane rings/loops in the cytosol of P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes and their relation to the parasite.
Parasitol Res
August 2024
Central Division of Microscopy, Biocenter, University of Wuerzburg, Am Hubland, 97094, Würzburg, Germany.
Striking morphological transformations characterize the invasion of a red blood cell by the malaria parasite. Shortly after the infection, parasite-induced membranes appear in the cytosol of the affected host erythrocyte. One intensely investigated membrane type, commonly called Maurer's clefts, has a slit-like morphology and can be arranged in the form of extended three-dimensional membrane stacks or networks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVariable Surface Antigens of : Protein Families with Divergent Roles.
Protein Pept Lett
September 2024
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
Malaria caused by (Pf) is an illness that contributes significantly to the global health burden. Pf makes significant alterations to the host cell to meet its metabolic demands and escape the immune response of the host. These include the export of a large number of parasite proteins to the infected Red Blood Cells (iRBC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAPEX2-based proximity proteomic analysis identifies candidate interactors for Plasmodium falciparum knob-associated histidine-rich protein in infected erythrocytes.
Sci Rep
May 2024
Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0XY, UK.
The interaction of Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (iRBCs) with the vascular endothelium plays a crucial role in malaria pathology and disease. KAHRP is an exported P. falciparum protein involved in iRBC remodelling, which is essential for the formation of protrusions or "knobs" on the iRBC surface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecular Players at the Sorting Stations of Malaria Parasite .
Curr Protein Pept Sci
June 2024
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar, Punjab, India.
The apicomplexan pathogenic parasite ' (Pf) is responsible for most of the malaria related mortality. It resides in and refurbishes the infected red blood cells (iRBCs) for its own survival and to suffice its metabolic needs. Remodeling of host erythrocytes involves alteration of physical and biochemical properties of the membrane and genesis of new parasite induced structures within the iRBCs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!