A switch in infected erythrocyte deformability at the maturation and blood circulation of Plasmodium falciparum transmission stages.

Marta Tiburcio (1) , Makhtar Niang (2) , Guillaume Deplaine (3, 4) , Sylvie Perrot (5) , Emmanuel Bischoff (6) , Papa Alioune Ndour (3) , Francesco Silvestrini (1) , Ayman Khattab (7) , Genevieve Milon (8) , Peter H. David (5) , Max Hardeman (9) , Kenneth D Vernick (6) , Robert W. Sauerwein (10) , Peter R. Preiser (2) , Odile Mercereau-Puijalon (5) , Pierre Buffet (3) , Pietro Alano (1) , Catherine Lavazec (5, 6)

1 ISS - Istituto Superiore di Sanità
2 Nanyang Technological University [Singapour]
3 CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière [AP-HP]
4 UPMC - Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6
5 Immunologie moléculaire des parasites
6 Génétique et Génomique des Insectes vecteurs
7 Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki
8 Immunophysiologie et Parasitisme
9 AMC - Academic Medical Center - Academisch Medisch Centrum [Amsterdam]
10 Radboud University Medical Center [Nijmegen]

Achievement of malaria elimination requires development of novel strategies interfering with parasite transmission, including targeting the parasite sexual stages (gametocytes). The formation of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes in the human host takes several days during which immature gametocyte-infected erythrocytes (GIEs) sequester in host tissues. Only mature stage GIEs circulate in the peripheral blood, available to uptake by the Anopheles vector. Mechanisms underlying GIE sequestration and release in circulation are virtually unknown. We show here that mature GIEs are more deformable than immature stages using ektacytometry and microsphiltration methods, and that a switch in cellular deformability in the transition from immature to mature gametocytes is accompanied by the deassociation of parasite-derived STEVOR proteins from the infected erythrocyte membrane. We hypothesize that mechanical retention contributes to sequestration of immature GIEs and that regained deformability of mature gametocytes is associated with their release in the bloodstream and ability to circulate. These processes are proposed to play a key role in P falciparum gametocyte development in the host and to represent novel and unconventional targets for interfering with parasite transmission.

Keywords: Erythrocytes/*parasitology; Erythrocyte Deformability/*physiology; Antigens; Protozoan/metabolism; Animals; Malaria; Falciparum/*blood/parasitology/*transmission; Humans; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; *Life Cycle Stages; Adult; Plasmodium falciparum/*growth & development/*physiology/ultrastructure; Protein Transport

Domains: Parasitology; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Invertebrate Zoology

Marta Tiburcio, Makhtar Niang, Guillaume Deplaine, Sylvie Perrot, Emmanuel Bischoff, et al.. A switch in infected erythrocyte deformability at the maturation and blood circulation of Plasmodium falciparum transmission stages.. Blood, 2012, 119 (24), pp.e172--180. ⟨10.1182/blood-2012-03-414557⟩. ⟨pasteur-02008331⟩