Development of a novel real-time method to study the erythrocytic life cycle of Plasmodium falciparum using Quartz Crystal Microbalances

Entwicklung einer neuen Echtzeit-Methode zur Untersuchung des erytrozytärer Lebenszyklus von Plasmodium falciparum mit Schwingquarzbiosensoren

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• Publisher: Cuvillier Verlag
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN:
  9783736932807
• Print ISBN:
  9783869552804
• Edition: 1

Previous studies carried out by the Biosensor Research Group of the Institute of Clinicaland Experimental Transfusion Medicine at the Tübingen University had successfullydemonstrated determination of various blood types through the interaction oferythrocytes with immobilised antibodies on a QCM. These studies have opened thepossibility to test new applications of this technique for the study of infectious diseases.In our case, studies of the erythrocyte life cycle of P. falciparum, particularly during the lastsix hours preceding the merozoite release and studies related to reinfection of bymerozoites were the focus of our investigation.Release of malaria parasites of P. falciparum from infected erythrocyte at the end of theirasexual erythrocyte cycle occurs approximately every 48 hours, asynchronously in parasiteculture and synchronously in vivo. This process is poorly studied due to: (I) merozoiterelease is a very short event ( 1% in the erythrocytes infected in situ.Our results show, that the QCM technique is an appropriate and important new tool toelucidate the biology of the re-invasion process of Plasmodia.