Cultivation of Asexual Intraerythrocytic Stages of Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

Successfully developed in 1976, the continuous in vitro culture of Plasmodium falciparum has many applications in the field of malaria research. It has become an important experimental model that directly uses a human pathogen responsible for a high prevalence of morbidity and mortality in many parts of the world and is a major source of biological material for immunological, biochemical, molecular, and pharmacological studies. Until present, the basic techniques described by Trager and Jensen and Haynes et al. remain unchanged in many malaria research laboratories. Nonetheless, different factors, including culture media, buffers, serum substitutes and supplements, sources of erythrocytes, and conditions of incubation (especially oxygen concentration), have been modified by different investigators to adapt the original technique in their laboratories or enhance the in vitro growth of the parasites. The possible effects and benefits of these modifications for the continuous cultivation of asexual intraerythrocytic stages of P. falciparum, as well as future challenges in developing a serum-free cultivation system and axenic cultures, are discussed.

Evaluation of 4-Aminoquinoline Hydrazone Analogues as Potential Leads for Drug-Resistant Malaria

“…The K1, 3D7 (from MR4 and in-lab maintained and isolated clone A10), and Dd2 strain of P. falciparum were cultured with RPMI 1640 medium containing 25 mM HEPES and 0.3 g/L l -glutamine (Gibco, Life Technologies, Paisley, UK) [ 32 , 33 ]. The medium was supplemented with 2.5 g AlbuMax (Sigma, Gillingham, UK) and sterile solutions of 2.5 mL hypoxanthine (Sigma, UK), 2.5 mL 40% glucose (Dextrose Anhydrous, Fisher Scientific, Loughborough, UK), and 0.5 mL gentamycin (Sigma, UK).…”