title: High resolution 3D perspective of Plasmodium biology: advancing into a new era.
abstract: Apicomplexan parasites exhibit a great variety of complex life cycles that require adaptation to different niches of parasitism. They invade different host cells and highjack their biological functions. Plasmodium falciparum, responsible for the deadliest form of human malaria, causes disease while completely remodeling the erythrocytes of its human host through mechanisms that are only partly understood. Recent developments in ultrastructural technologies offer new opportunities to investigate fundamental aspects in the biology of the parasite in a three-dimensional (3D) perspective. Here we bring together recent work on host cell invasion, hemoglobin uptake, protein export and nuclear dynamics. A comprehensive 3D view of the ultrastructural biology of the parasite may shed new light on cellular mechanisms that underlie the pathogenicity of P. falciparum.
authors: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, IMRIC, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors: Shiri
authors: S
authors: Eshar
authors: Noa
authors: N
authors: Dahan-Pasternak
authors: Allon
authors: A
authors: Weiner
authors: Ron
authors: R
authors: Dzikowski
mesh_terms: D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology*; D052940:Merozoites / Q000502:physiology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D021381:Protein Transport; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins