During blood-stage replication of Plasmodium, the merozoite form of the parasite (the form of the malaria parasite that invades red blood cells) infects red blood cells and develops and replicates inside them.

This is an essential step in the Plasmodium life-cycle that could be targeted by vaccines and novel drugs.

Identifying molecular and cellular interactions involved in invasion of red blood cells by P. falciparum merozoites using novel approaches we have recently developed.

We will use this knowledge to complement our research on vaccine development and drug discovery.

Videos produced by Greta Weiss, Tana Taechalertpaisarn and Paul Gilson.

Publications

2015

• Revealing the Sequence and Resulting Cellular Morphology of Receptor-Ligand Interactions during Plasmodium falciparum Invasion of Erythrocytes.
  Weiss GE, Gilson PR, Taechalertpaisarn T, Tham WH, de Jong NW, Harvey KL, Fowkes FJ, Barlow PN, Rayner JC, Wright GJ, Cowman AF, Crabb BS
  PLoS Pathog. 2015 Feb; 11(2):e1004670

2014

• Conditional expression of apical membrane antigen 1 in Plasmodium falciparum shows it is required for erythrocyte invasion by merozoites.
  Yap A, Azevedo MF, Gilson PR, Weiss GE, O Neill MT, Wilson DW, Crabb BS, Cowman AF
  Cell Microbiol. 2014 Feb; 16(5):642-656