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A role for microtubules in Plasmodium falciparum merozoite invasion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1997

P. A. BEJON
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK
L. H. BANNISTER
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK
R. E. FOWLER
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK
R. E. FOOKES
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK
S. E. WEBB
Affiliation:
Present address: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK
A. WRIGHT
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK
G. H. MITCHELL
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, UMDS, The Medical School, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK

Abstract

Colchicine, a drug which poisons the polymerization of microtubules, was assayed for effects on the invasion of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites into red cells in order to investigate if merozoite microtubules have a function in invasion. Culture conditions and concentrations of colchicine were established where the maturation and rupture of schizonts was unaffected by the drug. This was judged first by light microscopy, including morphology and counts of nuclear particle numbers, then by ultrastructural studies which excluded deranged organellogenesis as a cause of merozoite failure, and finally by diachronic cultures in which both recruitment and loss of schizonts could be counted. Specific invasion inhibition was seen when 10 μM–1 mM colchicine was present. Red cells pre-incubated in colchicine and then washed showed no reduction in their extent of invasion, and neither red cell lysis, sphering nor blebbing were apparent. We conclude that intact microtubules are necessary for successful merozoite function.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press

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