TY - JOUR
T1 - Plasmodium falciparum biology
T2 - analysis of in vitro versus in vivo growth conditions
AU - LeRoux, Michele
AU - Lakshmanan, Viswanathan
AU - Daily, Johanna P.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions. We apologize to researchers whose work we were unable to cite directly because of space limitations. J.P.D. is supported by NIAID (R01AI077623).
PY - 2009/10
Y1 - 2009/10
N2 - Recent studies of Plasmodium falciparum isolated directly from infected patients indicate that alternative parasite biological states occur in the natural host that are not observed with in vitro cultivated parasites. Variation in host substrates, immune responses and other factors probably induce modifications in parasite biology. These biological states could have important implications for pathogenesis, transmission and therapy. We review the differences between P. falciparum in vitro culture systems and in vivo host environments, as well as evidence that host conditions can alter pathogen biology. For select biological questions, the incorporation of naturally occurring conditions into in vitro experimental manipulation of microbes may provide novel insight into pathogen biology.
AB - Recent studies of Plasmodium falciparum isolated directly from infected patients indicate that alternative parasite biological states occur in the natural host that are not observed with in vitro cultivated parasites. Variation in host substrates, immune responses and other factors probably induce modifications in parasite biology. These biological states could have important implications for pathogenesis, transmission and therapy. We review the differences between P. falciparum in vitro culture systems and in vivo host environments, as well as evidence that host conditions can alter pathogen biology. For select biological questions, the incorporation of naturally occurring conditions into in vitro experimental manipulation of microbes may provide novel insight into pathogen biology.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70149120308&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=70149120308&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pt.2009.07.005
DO - 10.1016/j.pt.2009.07.005
M3 - Review article
C2 - 19747879
AN - SCOPUS:70149120308
SN - 1471-4922
VL - 25
SP - 474
EP - 481
JO - Trends in Parasitology
JF - Trends in Parasitology
IS - 10
ER -