Lipid compartmentalization in erythrocytes parasitized by Plasmodium spp.

Although reasonably well protected from the host immune system by the erythrocyte membrane, the intraerythrocytic malaria parasite has to make that membrane compatible with its own requirements for development and multiplication. The development of Plasmodium spp brings about major changes in the lipid composition of the host cell membrane, as well as in its physical properties. The parasite itself has a lipid composition that differs from that of the host cell and an intense lipid trafficking seems to occur between intracellular parasite and host cell membrane. Here, Ana Paula Simões, Ben Roelofsen and Jos Op den Kamp discuss how, despite serious methodological limitations and the existence of some conflicting results, an overall picture of lipid compartmentalization within the parasitized erythrocyte is perceived.