To locate blood vessels and establish infection, malaria parasites alternate between two states of movement in the skin – fast and slow. Interestingly, this shift in state might be guided by a cell found on the walls of capillaries.

Transcript

Of the dozens of malaria parasites the mosquito injects, only a handful will make it. To survive, the parasite needs to forage around for a blood vessel, enter it, and hitch a ride to the liver, where it can set up the infection. 3D imaging and statistical modelling reveals how this foraging plays out in the skin. After moving forward quickly, in a random and chaotic manner, the parasite sidles up to a blood vessel. Then, it changes tact. It moves slowly in a circular motion around the blood vessel, trying to find a way in. Interestingly, this shift in state might be guided by the parasite’s detection of a particular type of cell, called a pericyte. Pericytes are found on the walls of capillaries. Directly, or indirectly, they signal a point of entry, thereby luring the parasite in. Tracking parasites in the skin, therefore, reveals this novel finding: that pericytes play a role in the early stages of malaria infection.

Source

Plasmodium sporozoite search strategy to locate hotspots of blood vessel invasion

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.