Selecting Plasmodium falciparum-Infected Erythrocytes for Adhesion to Recombinant Receptors Under Flow Conditions

The var genes encoding the Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) mediating adhesion of infected erythrocytes (IEs) are clonally variant and confer the parasite the ability to evade the host immune response by enabling switching among expression of different PfEMP1 variants. This method of antigenic variation allows the parasite to adhere to a variety of proteins to escape splenic clearance. Enriching IE populations for expression of a specific PfEMP1 variant is crucial for the study of specific var genes PfEMP1 proteins and their role in pathogenicity. Selection of parasites using cell monolayers requires large-volume cultures (>5 mL). This chapter describes a method, which rapidly selects for adhesive phenotypes of interest using small-volume cultures (<1 mL) under physiological flow conditions.