title: Quantitative analysis of Plasmodium berghei liver stages by bioluminescence imaging.
abstract: We describe simple and sensitive in vitro and in vivo assays to analyze Plasmodium liver stage development using transgenic P. berghei parasites (PbGFP-Luccon), which express the bioluminescent reporter protein, luciferase. In these assays, parasite development in hepatocytes is visualized and quantified by real-time bioluminescence imaging both in culture and in live mice. We also describe quantification of in vitro liver-stage development by measuring luminescence using a microplate reader. Reporter-parasite based quantification of liver-stage development is faster and correlates very well with established quantitative RT-PCR methods currently used to assess parasite development inside hepatocytes, both in live mice and in culture.
authors.affiliation: Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Annoura
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chevalley
authors.forename: Chris J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Janse
authors.forename: Blandine
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Franke-Fayard
authors.forename: Shahid M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000469:parasitology; D002460:Cell Line; D058948:Cell Tracking / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology*; D051379:Mice; D010962:Plasmodium berghei / Q000254:growth & development*; D034101:Sporozoites / Q000378:metabolism