«Using laser tweezers to study red
blood cell invasion gives us an unprecedented level of control over the whole process and will help us to understand this critical process at a level of detail that has not been possible before,» says senior study author Julian Rayner of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
An international team led by the University of Edinburgh studied the timing of parasite rhythms — in multiplication and red
blood cell invasion — in groups of malaria - infected mice.
«Our findings suggest that development of an effective malaria vaccine that blocks red
blood cell invasion is a more difficult task than initially thought.
Specifically, we will characterize the role of Clone 10 in red
blood cell invasion and schizogeny by performing immunolocalization studies on infected red blood cells, and invasion / growth inhibition assays to determine the role of anti-Clone 10 antibodies in mediating resistance.