Brain endothelial cells increase the proliferation of Plasmodium falciparum through production of soluble factors

L. T. Khaw, H. J. Ball, A. J. Mitchell, G. E. Grau, R. Stocker, J. Golenser, N. H. Hunt*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We here describe the novel finding that brain endothelial cells in vitro can stimulate the growth of Plasmodium falciparum through the production of low molecular weight growth factors. By using a conditioned medium approach, we show that the brain endothelial cells continued to release these factors over time. If this mirrors the in vivo situation, these growth factors potentially would provide an advantage, in terms of enhanced growth, for sequestered parasitised red blood cells in the brain microvasculature. We observed this phenomenon with brain endothelial cells from several sources as well as a second P. falciparum strain. The characteristics of the growth factors included: <3. kDa molecular weight, heat stable, and in part chloroform soluble. Future efforts should be directed at identifying these growth factors, since blocking their production or actions might be of benefit for reducing parasite load and, hence, malaria pathology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)34-41
Number of pages8
JournalExperimental Parasitology
Volume145
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2014

Keywords

  • Cerebral malaria
  • Malaria
  • Plasmodium falciparum

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