Glycosphingolipid GM3 is localized in both exoplasmic and cytoplasmic leaflets of Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite plasma membrane.

ABSTRACT: Lipid rafts, sterol-rich and sphingolipid-rich microdomains on the plasma membrane are important in processes like cell signaling, adhesion, and protein and lipid transport. The virulence of many eukaryotic parasites is related to raft microdomains on the cell membrane. In the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, which are important for invasion and are possible targets for vaccine development, are localized in the raft. However, rafts are poorly understood. We used quick-freezing and freeze-fracture immuno-electron microscopy to examine the localization of monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM1) and monosialodihexosylganglioside (GM3), putative raft microdomain components in P. falciparum and infected erythrocytes. This method immobilizes

SUBMITTER: Koudatsu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8295280 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature