Crithidia fasciculata as feeder cells for malaria parasites

Crithidia fasciculata was used to replace murine peritoneal wash cells as feeder cells for the adaptation of Plasmodium falciparum isolates to continuous culture in vitro, thus avoiding the need to sacrifice animals. Fourteen of 17 malaria parasite isolates in one study, and 12 of 12 isolates in a second study, were successfully adapted to continuous culture in the presence of C. fasciculata, while only 5 of 17 parallel control isolates in the first study, and 2 of 12 isolates in the second study, were adapted in the absence of any feeder cells. Biochemical assays were performed to investigate various hypotheses put forward to explain the mode of action of feeder cells. No effect of C. fasciculata feeder cells was observed on lactate removal, osmotic pressure, or glucose or amino acid content of the malaria culture media. This feeder cell system was shown to reduce the pH of the malaria culture medium. Neither this feeder system nor another system, murine peritoneal macrophages, had any effect on the cysteine content of the culture medium. C. fasciculata was shown to reduce the redox potential of the culture medium, as were other malaria growth enhancers including cysteine and glutathione. This effect on the redox potential of the culture medium is proposed to be a possible mode of action for the feeder cell systems studied.