Quantitative imaging of Plasmodium sporozoites in the mammalian host.
Malaria, the disease caused by Plasmodium, kills more than 1 million people annually. Little is known of the pre-erythrocytic phase of the parasite life cycle, i.e., after the sporozoite stage is inoculated in the dermis by a mosquito and before the erythrocyte-infecting stage is released from hepatocytes. We present here a quantitative, real-time analysis of the fate of parasites transmitted in a rodent system. We describe previously unrecognized steps in the parasite's journey to the liver of the host, which are likely to play an important role in the host immune response.
Amino
Rogerio
R
Unité de biologie et génétique du paludisme, Institut Pasteur, 25-28, rue du Docteur-Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
Thiberge
Sabine
S
Shorte
Spencer
S
Frischknecht
Friedrich
F
Ménard
Robert
R
D000818:Animals; D003199:Computer Systems; D009033:Culicidae / Q000469:parasitology; D020405:Dermis / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000469:parasitology; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D051379:Mice; D008812:Mice, Hairless; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D034101:Sporozoites / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*