Probing Parasite-Host Interactions 1
Probing Parasite-Host Interactions 1
Azza H. Idris, David V. Mankus, Meghan Marquette, Margret Bisher, Abigail Lytton-Jean, Sandra March, Robert Seder, Sangeeta Bhatia
Koch Institute at MIT, Institute of Medical Engineering and Science
The image captures a malaria parasite with its outer protein coat being stripped as a result of antibodies binding. When antibodies bind to this coat protein on the surface of the malaria parasite, they cross-link the protein, which induces the shedding of the outer surface coat. Similar to a snake shedding its skin, the coat forms a hollow structure which collects at the posterior (back) end of the parasite. The image was taken to gain understanding of the mechanisms underlying parasite-host interactions.