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Invasion of mammalian host cells by Plasmodium sporozoites
Author(s) -
Mota Maria M.,
Rodriguez Ana
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.10050
Subject(s) - circumsporozoite protein , plasmodium (life cycle) , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , vacuole , hepatocyte , exocytosis , host (biology) , malaria , virology , secretion , plasmodium falciparum , parasite hosting , immunology , in vitro , cytoplasm , ecology , biochemistry , world wide web , computer science
Malaria is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, which introduces Plasmodium sporozoites into the mammalian host. Sporozoites rapidly reach the liver of the host where they are sequestered, a process probably mediated by circumsporozoite (CS) protein. Once in the liver, sporozoites migrate through several hepatocytes by breaching their plasma membranes before infecting a final hepatocyte with formation of a vacuole around the sporozoite, where development occurs into blood stage parasites. We propose that migration through several host cells activates sporozoites for ultimate productive invasion. This migration triggers sporozoite exocytosis, which is necessary for hepatocyte invasion, probably because it provides molecules, such as thrombospondin‐related anonymous protein (TRAP), likely required for sporozoite invasion with the formation of a vacuole. How sporozoites migrate from the skin to the liver and invade hepatocytes remains unclear. Understanding this initial stage of malaria is crucial for the development of new approaches against the disease. BioEssays 24:149–156, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.