title: Malaria pigment crystals as magnetic micro-rotors: key for high-sensitivity diagnosis.
abstract: The need to develop new methods for the high-sensitivity diagnosis of malaria has initiated a global activity in medical and interdisciplinary sciences. Most of the diverse variety of emerging techniques are based on research-grade instruments, sophisticated reagent-based assays or rely on expertise. Here, we suggest an alternative optical methodology with an easy-to-use and cost-effective instrumentation based on unique properties of malaria pigment reported previously and determined quantitatively in the present study. Malaria pigment, also called hemozoin, is an insoluble microcrystalline form of heme. These crystallites show remarkable magnetic and optical anisotropy distinctly from any other components of blood. As a consequence, they can simultaneously act as magnetically driven micro-rotors and spinning polarizers in suspensions. These properties can gain importance not only in malaria diagnosis and therapies, where hemozoin is considered as drug target or immune modulator, but also in the magnetic manipulation of cells and tissues on the microscopic scale.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Condensed Matter Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Butykai
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orbán
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kocsis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Szaller
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bordács
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tátrai-Szekeres
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bóta
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Vértessy
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zelles
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kézsmárki
mesh_terms: D006420:Hemeproteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D008280:Magnetics; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D006420:Hemeproteins; D010860:Pigments, Biological; C020753:hemozoin