Environmental constraints guide migration of malaria parasites during transmission
| Autor: | Janina Kristin Hellmann, Kirsten Heiss, Mikhail Kudryashev, Ulrich S. Schwarz, Kai Matuschewski, Simon Schulz, Ann-Kristin Müller, Joachim P. Spatz, Sylvia Münter, Friedrich Frischknecht |
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| Předmět: |
Cancer Research
Plasmodium Vesicular Transport Proteins law.invention Mice law Molecular Cell Biology Parasite hosting lcsh:QH301-705.5 Skin Ecology Physics Cell biology Cell Motility Transmission (mechanics) Infectious Diseases Blood circulation Medicine Research Article lcsh:Immunologic diseases. Allergy Movement Immunology Green Fluorescent Proteins Biophysics Biological Data Management Biology Environment Microbiology Malaria transmission Virology parasitic diseases Genetics medicine Cell Adhesion Parasitic Diseases Animals Parasites Molecular Biology Organisms Genetically Modified fungi Computational Biology Chemotaxis Vectors and Hosts biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Malaria Mice Inbred C57BL lcsh:Biology (General) Biological dispersal Parasitology lcsh:RC581-607 Zoology |
| Zdroj: | ResearcherID PLoS Pathogens PLoS Pathogens, Vol 7, Iss 6, p e1002080 (2011) |
| Popis: | Migrating cells are guided in complex environments mainly by chemotaxis or structural cues presented by the surrounding tissue. During transmission of malaria, parasite motility in the skin is important for Plasmodium sporozoites to reach the blood circulation. Here we show that sporozoite migration varies in different skin environments the parasite encounters at the arbitrary sites of the mosquito bite. In order to systematically examine how sporozoite migration depends on the structure of the environment, we studied it in micro-fabricated obstacle arrays. The trajectories observed in vivo and in vitro closely resemble each other suggesting that structural constraints can be sufficient to guide Plasmodium sporozoites in complex environments. Sporozoite speed in different environments is optimized for migration and correlates with persistence length and dispersal. However, this correlation breaks down in mutant sporozoites that show adhesion impairment due to the lack of TRAP-like protein (TLP) on their surfaces. This may explain their delay in infecting the host. The flexibility of sporozoite adaption to different environments and a favorable speed for optimal dispersal ensures efficient host switching during malaria transmission. Author Summary Guidance of motile cells plays an important role during the life of a multi-cellular organism from early embryogenesis to the intricate interactions of immune cells during an infection. These migrations, like those of pathogens, can be directed by both chemical and physical cues. The malaria parasite needs to migrate immediately after being injected into the skin of the host by a mosquito bite. The malaria parasite forms deposited in the skin are called sporozoites. These must penetrate the dermis of the host to reach and enter a blood vessel. It is not clear if the sporozoites follow chemical cues or rely on the physical context of the environment. We show here, using in vivo imaging that sporozoites migrate along different paths in different skin environments. Introducing a novel assay for the study of cell migration in general we show that these in vivo paths can be largely recreated in vitro by placing sporozoites in a micro-patterned environment. This shows that environmental constraints are sufficient to guide sporozoite migration in the skin dermis. We further speculate that sporozoites have evolved to migrate at the fastest speed possible for efficient dispersal and show that a parasite lacking a surface protein has substantial defects in tissue dispersal and thus cannot efficiently infect the host. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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