Biochemical And Biophysical Parasitology

我们的研究重点是疟疾寄生虫感染血细胞的膜特性，包括寄生虫液泡膜（PVM）、寄生虫安装的胞内膜（如Maurer's Clefts）和宿主细胞膜本身。我们研究了这些特性在携带突变血红蛋白的不同人类红细胞中是如何变化的，包括可以赋予疟疾感染抵抗力的血红蛋白S和C。荧光寿命成像显微镜（FLIM）在某些染料的实验中提供了用其他方法很难或不可能获得的膜脂含量的信息。FLIM实验帮助我们了解疟原虫膜如何获得其胆固醇含量（因为疟疾寄生虫不能合成胆固醇，尽管它是正常膜功能的关键分子）。这些研究结果将进一步加深我们对疟疾寄生的分子过程的认识，并可能为新的疟疾感染干预措施提供策略。

Our research focuses on the properties of the membranes of malaria parasite-infected blood cells, including the parasitophorous vacuolar membrane (PVM), intracellular membranes installed by the parasite such as Maurer's Clefts, and the host cell membrane itself. We study how these properties vary in different human red blood cells carrying mutant hemoglobins, including hemoglobins S and C that can confer resistance to malaria infection. Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) in experiments with certain dyes provides information on membrane lipid content that is difficult or impossible to obtain by other methods. FLIM experiments help us to understand how malaria parasite membranes acquire their cholesterol content (as malaria parasites cannot synthesize cholesterol even though it is a critical molecule for proper membrane function). Results from these investigations will further our knowledge of molecular processes essential to malaria parasitism and may suggest strategies for new interventions against malaria infection.