title: Microsphiltration: a microsphere matrix to explore erythrocyte deformability.
abstract: The altered deformability of erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum is central in malaria -pathogenesis, as it influences the hemodynamic properties of the infected cell and its retention in the spleen. Exported parasite proteins, as well as the shape and volume of the parasite itself, influence the deformability of the infected erythrocyte. To explore changes in erythrocyte deformability, we have developed a new method, called microsphiltration, based on filtration of erythrocytes through a mixture of metal microspheres that mimic the geometry of inter-endothelial splenic slits. As P. falciparum develops in its host cell, the retention rates observed in microspheres correlate with the progressive decrease of erythrocyte deformability and with the retention rates in the spleen. The yields of microsphiltration separation allow for molecular analyses of subpopulations with distinct mechanical phenotypes.
authors.affiliation: Unité d'Immunologie Moléculaire des Parasites, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. clavazec@pasteur.fr
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lavazec
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Deplaine
authors.forename: Innocent
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Safeukui
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perrot
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Milon
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mercereau-Puijalon
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Buffet
mesh_terms: D004907:Erythrocyte Deformability; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000097:blood* / Q000469:parasitology; D008863:Microspheres; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000254:growth & development