Plasmodium falciparum: Synchronization of cultures with dl-α-difluoromethylornithine, an inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis

Yehuda G. Assaraf*, Jacob Golenser, Dan T. Spira, Uriel Bachrach

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

dl-α-Difluoromethylornithine, an inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis, was tested for its ability to synchronize Plasmodium falciparum. Asynchronous cultures were pretreated with sorbitol and incubated for 28-30 hr. Then, when cultures consisted of mainly schizont stage parasites, dl-α-difluoromethylornithine was added to the growth medium for another 38-47 hr of incubation. Putrescine was added to parasites arrested at the early trophozoite stage. This resulted in a synchronous resumption of growth. After 19 hr, 83% of parasites were at the schizont stage. After 30 hr, more than 98% of the parasites were in the ring form stage. Furthermore, the transformation of early trophozoites to schizonts occurred within 3 hr, with a slight reduction in parasitemia. Synchrony was maintained for 4-5 biological cycles as confirmed also by flow fluorimetry. It appears that this new approach to synchronize P. falciparum cultures is simple, reproducible, and effective.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)229-235
Number of pages7
JournalExperimental Parasitology
Volume61
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1986

Keywords

  • Malaria, human
  • Plasmodium falciparum
  • Polyamines
  • Protozoa, parasitic

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