Regensburg 2019 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 60: Biomaterials and biopolymers II (joint session BP/CPP)
CPP 60.5: Vortrag
Donnerstag, 4. April 2019, 16:15–16:30, H10
Effect of drug treatment on the formation of malaria pigment crystals — •Szilvia Mucza1, Ana Strinic2, Agnes Orban1, Petra Molnar3, Peter Furjes4, Beata Vertessy G.3, and Istvan Kezsmarki1,2 — 1Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics — 2Experimental Physics V, University of Augsburg — 3Hungarian Academy of Sciences Research Centre for Natural Sciences — 4Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The malaria pigment crystals are a by-product of the metabolic process of malaria parasites. These few-hundred-nanometer sized needle-like crystals are unique indicators of the presence of infection. Our group developed a magneto-optical device for malaria diagnosis, which can precisely measure the concentration of the crystals produced by the parasites. The increasing crystal concentration in time indicates the growth of the parasites in a culture, thus, the device is also sufficient for drug screening using parasite cultures. In the present study, we found that the magneto-optical method is able to determine the size distribution of the crystals in addition to their concentration. By following the size distribution of the crystals throughout the life cycle of the parasites for drug-treated and untreated cultures we could specify the stage when the drug action takes place. The same method can also be used to reveal if the drug action is related to the blocking of crystal formation or has a different pathway.