Malaria Parasite Invades a Blood Cell (Super Resolution Microscopy) (IMAGE)
Caption
This image is a composite showing the behavior of different parts of the malaria parasite as it invades a red blood cell, at nanometer scales. The three components of the malaria parasite are labeled with fluorescent proteins (blue = parasite nucleus, red = secretory organelle, green = tight junction). The red blood cell is superimposed on the image for context. Image 1 (Attachment): The parasite is about to invade the red blood cell (unseen to the right of the picture). The tight junction (green) is like a window that the parasite brings with it and inserts into the red blood cell to gain entry. Image 2 (Invasion): This image is mid-invasion, the first time this step has even been visualized. The parasite "opens" the window it has inserted into the cell, and walks through. The secretory organelle (red) secretes its contents through the tight junction (green) and creates a vacuole which the parasite lives within in the red blood cell. In this image we see the parasite nucleus (blue) moving through the ‘window’ into the cell. Image 3 (Sealing): The parasite has completed invasion and is within a vacuole inside the host red blood cell. The window has been closed again, and will break down at a later stage. The parasite is now enclosed within its vacuole (red), the nucleus (blue) showing the parasite safely inside.
Credit
David Riglar and Jacob Baum (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) with support from Cynthia Whitchurch and Lynne Turnbull (University of Technology, Sydney).
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