Refractive index maps and membrane dynamics of human red blood cells parasitized by Plasmodium falciparum

Parasitization by malaria-inducing Plasmodium falciparum leads to structural, biochemical, and mechanical modifications to the host red blood cells (RBCs). To study these modifications, we investigate two intrinsic indicators: the refractive index and membrane fluctuations in P. falciparum-invaded h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2008-09, Vol.105 (37), p.13730-13735
Main Authors: Park, YongKeun, Diez-Silva, Monica, Popescu, Gabriel, Lykotrafitis, George, Choi, Wonshik, Feld, Michael S, Suresh, Subra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Sciences
Cell membranes
Cell Shape
Cytoplasm
Erythrocyte Membrane - metabolism
Erythrocyte Membrane - parasitology
Erythrocytes
Erythrocytes - cytology
Erythrocytes - metabolism
Erythrocytes - parasitology
Experiments
Fever
Hemoglobins - metabolism
Humans
Light refraction
Membranes
Microbiology
Microscopy
P branes
Parasites
Parasitism
Physical Sciences
Plasmodium falciparum
Plasmodium falciparum - physiology
Schizonts
Shear modulus
Temperature
Trophozoites
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Summary:Parasitization by malaria-inducing Plasmodium falciparum leads to structural, biochemical, and mechanical modifications to the host red blood cells (RBCs). To study these modifications, we investigate two intrinsic indicators: the refractive index and membrane fluctuations in P. falciparum-invaded human RBCs (Pf-RBCs). We report experimental connections between these intrinsic indicators and pathological states. By employing two noninvasive optical techniques, tomographic phase microscopy and diffraction phase microscopy, we extract three-dimensional maps of refractive index and nanoscale cell membrane fluctuations in isolated RBCs. Our systematic experiments cover all intraerythrocytic stages of parasite development under physiological and febrile temperatures. These findings offer potential, and sufficiently general, avenues for identifying, through cell membrane dynamics, pathological states that cause or accompany human diseases.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0806100105