Plasmodium sporozoite shows distinct motility patterns in responses to three-dimensional environments

Autor: Zhenhui Liu, Songman Li, Pooja Anantha, Tassanee Thanakornsombut, Lintong Wu, Junjie Chen, Ryohma Tsuchiya, Abhai K. Tripathi, Yun Chen, Ishan Barman
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: iScience, Vol 27, Iss 8, Pp 110463- (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2589-0042
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110463
Popis: Summary: During malaria infection, Plasmodium sporozoites, the fast-moving stage of the parasite, are injected by a mosquito into the skin of the mammalian host. In the skin, sporozoites need to migrate through the dermal tissue to enter the blood vessel. Sporozoite motility is critical for infection but not well understood. Here, we used collagen hydrogels with tunable fiber structures, as an in vitro model for the skin. After injecting sporozoites into the hydrogel, we analyzed their motility in three-dimension (3D). We found that sporozoites demonstrated chiral motility, in that they mostly follow right-handed helical trajectories. In high-concentration collagen gel, sporozoites have lower instantaneous speed, but exhibit straighter tracks compared to low-concentration collagen gel, which leads to longer net displacement and faster dissemination. Taken together, our study indicates an inner mechanism for sporozoites to adapt to the environment, which could help with their successful exit from the skin tissue.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals