Plasmodium falciparum maturation across the intra-erythrocytic cycle shifts the soft glassy viscoelastic properties of red blood cells from a liquid-like towards a solid-like behavior.

Plasmodium falciparum maturation across the intra-erythrocytic cycle shifts the soft glassy viscoelastic properties of red blood cells from a liquid-like towards a solid-like behavior. Exp Cell Res. 2020 Nov 10;:112370 Authors: Gómez F, Silva LS, Teixeira DE, Agero U, Pinheiro AAS, Viana NB, Pontes B Abstract The mechanical properties of erythrocytes have been investigated by different techniques. However, there are few reports on how the viscoelasticity of these cells varies during malaria disease. Here, we quantitatively map the viscoelastic properties of Plasmodium falciparum-parasitized human erythrocytes. We apply new methodologies based on optical tweezers to measure the viscoelastic properties and defocusing microscopy to measure the erythrocyte height profile, the overall cell volume, and its form factor, a crucial parameter to convert the complex elastic constant into complex shear modulus. The storage and loss shear moduli are obtained for each stage of parasite maturation inside red blood cells, while the former increase, the latter decrease. Employing a soft glassy rheology model, we obtain the power-law exponent for the storage and loss shear moduli, characterizing the soft glassy features of red blood cells in each parasite maturation stage. Ring forms present a liquid-like behavior, with a slightly lower power-law exponent than healthy erythrocytes, whereas trophozoite and schizont stages exhibit increasingly solid-li...
Source: Experimental Cell Research - Category: Cytology Authors: Tags: Exp Cell Res Source Type: research