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A Simple Protocol for Platelet-mediated Clumping of Plasmodium falciparum-infected Erythrocytes in a Resource Poor Setting
Published on: May 16, 2013
Patch-clamp analysis of the "new permeability pathways" in malaria-infected erythrocytes
Stephan M Huber1, Christophe Duranton, Florian Lang
1Department of Physiology, Eberhard-Karls-University, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract:
The intraerythrocytic amplification of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum induces new pathways of solute permeability in the host cell's membrane. These pathways play a pivotal role in parasite development by supplying the parasite with nutrients, disposing of the parasite's metabolic waste and organic osmolytes, and adapting the host's electrolyte composition to the parasite's needs. The "new permeability pathways" allow the fast electrogenic diffusion of ions and thus can be analyzed by patch-clamp single-channel or whole-cell recording. By employing these techniques, several ion-channel types with different electrophysiological profiles have been identified in P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes; they have also been identified in noninfected cells. This review discusses a possible contribution of these channels to the new permeability pathways on the one hand and their supposed functions in noninfected erythrocytes on the other.
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Malaria
Patch Clamp
In this method, a glass micropipette containing electrolyte solution is tightly sealed against a small portion of the cell membrane. As a result, a patch of the cell...