DOES ARTEMISININ ALTER THE PH OF THE MALARIA PARASITE’S DIGESTIVE VACOULE?
N. Abu-Bakar*, N. Klonis and L. Tilley
Abstract
DOES ARTEMISININ ALTER THE PH OF THE MALARIA PARASITE’S DIGESTIVE VACOULE?
- Abu-Bakar1*, N. Klonis2 and L. Tilley2
1School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, MALAYSIA.
2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, the University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, AUSTRALIA.
ABSTRACT
A prerequisite for complete haemoglobin digestion by the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is the uptake and transport of erythrocyte haemoglobin to an acidic digestive vacuole. A consequence of these processes is the release of haem that is thought to be involved in the action of an endoperoxide antimalarial drug, artemisinin. In this study, the effect of artemisinin on the pH of the digestive vacuole and associated endocytic compartments in ring and trophozoite stage parasites developing in erythrocytes resealed to contain a pH-sensitive fluorescent indicator, SNARF-1-dextran was investigated. The pH of the digestive vacuole, extra-digestive vacuole compartments and small peripheral compartments was not altered after 4-hour treatment with artemisinin concentrations that have usually been used to kill the parasite. This work has implications for the search of more accurate quantitative methods to further investigate this effect from much larger population of individual cells as well as quick and robust sample processing.
Keywords: malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, SNARF-1-dextran, artemisinin, pH, digestive vacuole
