Combined microscopy techniques reveal malaria parasitic attack in "unprecedented detail"
CAMBRIDGE, MASS, USA -- In work that could lead to new ways of detecting and treating malaria, MIT researchers have used two advanced microscopy techniques to show -- in "unprecedented detail" -- how the malaria parasite attacks red blood cells.
The researchers were aided by two advanced microscopy techniques: Diffraction phase microscopy, and tomographic phase microscopy.
The researchers' images show red blood cell membranes becoming less flexible, which causes the cells to clump as they try to navigate tiny blood vessels. They also show the destruction of hemoglobin, the critical molecule that red blood cells use to carry oxygen.
The images are made possible by microscopy techniques that reveal tiny vibrations in red blood cell membranes. "By studying the way the cell membrane vibrations progressively change as the malaria parasite matures inside the cell, we can study the changes in its mechanical, elastic and dynamic properties," said Michael Feld