TY - JOUR
T1 - Plasmodium sporozoite shows distinct motility patterns in responses to three-dimensional environments
AU - Liu, Zhenhui
AU - Li, Songman
AU - Anantha, Pooja
AU - Thanakornsombut, Tassanee
AU - Wu, Lintong
AU - Chen, Junjie
AU - Tsuchiya, Ryohma
AU - Tripathi, Abhai K.
AU - Chen, Yun
AU - Barman, Ishan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/8/16
Y1 - 2024/8/16
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - biological sciences
KW - cell biology
KW - natural sciences
KW - specialized functions of cells
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85198960931&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85198960931&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110463
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110463
M3 - Article
C2 - 39129829
AN - SCOPUS:85198960931
SN - 2589-0042
VL - 27
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
IS - 8
M1 - 110463
ER -