Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Transfection Models to Investigate Plasmodium vivax-Type Dormant Liver Stage Parasites
Version 1
: Received: 19 July 2023 / Approved: 19 July 2023 / Online: 20 July 2023 (05:03:11 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Voorberg-van der Wel, A.; Zeeman, A.-M.; Kocken, C.H.M. Transfection Models to Investigate Plasmodium vivax-Type Dormant Liver Stage Parasites. Pathogens 2023, 12, 1070. Voorberg-van der Wel, A.; Zeeman, A.-M.; Kocken, C.H.M. Transfection Models to Investigate Plasmodium vivax-Type Dormant Liver Stage Parasites. Pathogens 2023, 12, 1070.
Abstract
Plasmodium vivax causes the second highest number of malaria morbidity and mortality cases in humans. Several biological traits of this parasite species, including the formation of dormant stages (hypnozoites) that persist inside the liver for prolonged periods of time, present an obstacle for intervention measures and create a barrier for the elimination of malaria. Research into the biology of hypnozoites requires efficient systems for parasite transmission, liver stage cultivation and genetic modification. However, P. vivax research is hampered by the lack of an in vitro blood stage culture system, rendering it reliant on in vivo derived, mainly patient material, for transmission and liver stage culture. This has also resulted in a limited capability for genetic modification, creating a bottleneck in investigations into the mechanisms underlying the persistence of the parasite inside the liver. This bottleneck can be overcome through optimal use of the closely related and experimentally more amenable nonhuman primate (NHP) parasite Plasmodium cynomolgi as model system. In this review we discuss the genetic modification tools and liver stage cultivation platforms available for studying P. vivax persistent stages and highlight how their combined use may advance our understanding of hypnozoite biology.
Keywords
malaria; hypnozoite; Plasmodium vivax; Plasmodium cynomolgi; transfection; genetic modification; liver-stage
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Parasitology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Comments (0)
We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.
Leave a public commentSend a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment