Malaria Parasite Causes Red Blood Cells To Implode During Release, Study Says

Malaria parasites cause red blood cells to implode during their dispersal, a finding that could lead to new treatments for the disease, according to a study published in the Sept. 20 issue of Current Biology, UPI/WebIndia123.com reports (UPI/WebIndia123.com, 9/20). When the Plasmodium falciparum parasite -- the most common and deadliest malaria parasite -- infects a red blood cell, it multiplies inside the cell until the cell ruptures and releases the parasites. The released parasites then infect other cells and continue the process. To determine how malaria parasites disperse from red blood cells they infect, Joshua Zimmerberg and colleagues from NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development stained with two types of dye red blood cells infected with the P. falciparum parasite. One type of dye stained the blood cells green and the other stained the parasites red. They found that during the second stage of the parasites' release, the blood cells' membranes appear to implode and break into pieces, according to Zimmerberg. He added that the cellular components encasing the newly formed parasites -- called merozoites -- also break apart. The study's findings might lead to new malaria therapies because by understanding what happens in each stage of the parasites' release, researchers might be able to find ways to prevent dispersal at each stage, Zimmerberg said (NIH release, 9/19).