Modified Plasmodium falciparum Ring-Stage Survival Assay with ML10 Kinase Inhibitor

The ring-stage survival assay is the reference assay to measure in vitro Plasmodium falciparum artemisinin partial resistance. The main challenge of the standard protocol is to generate 0-to-3-h postinvasion ring stages (the stage least susceptible to artemisinin) from schizonts obtained by sorbitol treatment and Percoll gradient. We report here a modified protocol facilitating the production of synchronized schizonts when multiple strains are tested simultaneously, by using ML10, a protein kinase inhibitor, that reversibly blocks merozoite egress.