Regensburg 2019 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 6: Poster I
BP 6.65: Poster
Montag, 1. April 2019, 17:30–19:30, Poster B2
A dynamic model for the cytoskeleton of malaria-infected RBCs — •Julia Jäger1,2, Michael Lanzer3, and Ulrich S Schwarz1,2 — 1Institut für Theo- retische Physik, Universität Heidelberg — 2Bioquant, Universität Heidelberg — 3Parasitologie, UniversitätsKlinikum Heidelberg
Once inside the body, malaria parasites invade red blood cells (RBCs) in order to hide from the immune system and to digest hemoglobin. Over the course of 48 hours the parasite completely remodels the red blood cell, so that the cell becomes round and stiff, and eventually breaks open. The main point of attack by the malaria parasite is the spectrin-actin network underlying the membrane. It has been shown that the parasite removes some of the actin junctional points and uses this actin to build up its own filament system inside the RBC. We develop a particle-based reaction-diffusion model, which captures this remodeling process and examine possible mechanisms by which the parasite could induce the actin mining. In the long run, such a model might help to identify possible ways to interfere with the parasite life-cycle.