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Methods to Investigate the Regulatory Role of Small RNAs and Ribosomal Occupancy of Plasmodium falciparum
Published on: December 4, 2015
Malaria parasite-infected erythrocytes inhibit glucose utilization in uninfected red cells
Monika Mehta1, Haripalsingh M Sonawat, Shobhona Sharma
1Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400 005, India.
Abstract:
The erythrocytic stages of the malaria parasite depend on anaerobic glycolysis for energy. Using [2-13C]glucose and nuclear magnetic resonance, the glucose utilization rate and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) level produced in normal RBCs and Plasmodium falciparum infected red blood cell populations (IRBCs, with <4% parasite infected red cells), were measured. The glucose flux in IRBCs was several-folds greater, was proportional to parasitemia, and maximal at trophozoite stage. The 2,3-DPG levels were disproportionately lower in IRBCs, indicating a downregulation of 2,3-DPG flux in non-parasitized RBCs. This may be due to lowered pH leading to selective differential inhibition of the regulatory glycolytic enzyme phosphofructokinase. This downregulation of the glucose utilization rate in the majority (>96%) of uninfected RBCs in an IRBC population may have physiological implications in malaria patients.
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