Regensburg 2013 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 1: Cell migration
BP 1.9: Vortrag
Montag, 11. März 2013, 12:00–12:15, H43
Modelling malaria parasite motility in heterogeneous environments — •Anna Battista1, Friedrich Frischknecht2, and Ulrich Schwarz1 — 1ITP, Heidelberg University, Germany — 2University Clinics Heidelberg, Germany
Plasmodium sporozoites are the parasites responsible for malaria transmission from a mosquito to a vertebrate host. The movement of a sporozoite in the skin of the host appears to be irregular, whereas the same parasite describes a roughly circular trajectory on a flat substrate and a roughly helical trajectory in an unstructured 3D environment [1, 2]. Experiments performed in the Frischknecht group at Heidelberg University focused on the motion of sporozoites within regularly patterned micropillar arrays [3], corroborating the idea that the movement of the parasite is strongly determined by the nature of the surrounding environment. It is expected that the parasite has evolved a strategy to cope with irregularities in its environment, because malaria can develop only if a sporozoite reaches a blood vessel within a relatively short time after injection. We present a first theoretical model which predicts trajectories based on geometrical and energetic considerations. In particular, we discuss different scenarios for the interaction with obstacles and how these change the circular/helical path in 2D/3D environments. [1] S. Muenter et al., Cell Host & Microbe Vol. 6, 2009. [2] R. Amino et al., Nat. Med. Vol. 12, 2006. [3] J.K. Hellmann et al., Plos Pathogens Vol. 7, 2011.