Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Department of Molecular Parasitology, Hamburg, Germany.
Cell Microbiol. 2010 May 1;12(5):569-79. doi: 10.1111/j.1462-5822.2010.01454.x. Epub 2010 Feb 19.
Plasmodium parasites, the causative agents of malaria, first invade and develop within hepatocytes before infecting red blood cells and causing symptomatic disease. Because of the low infection rates in vitro and in vivo, the liver stage of Plasmodium infection is not very amenable to biochemical assays, but the large size of the parasite at this stage in comparison with Plasmodium blood stages makes it accessible to microscopic analysis. A variety of imaging techniques has been used to this aim, ranging from electron microscopy to widefield epifluorescence and laser scanning confocal microscopy. High-speed live video microscopy of fluorescent parasites in particular has radically changed our view on key events in Plasmodium liver-stage development. This includes the fate of motile sporozoites inoculated by Anopheles mosquitoes as well as the transport of merozoites within merosomes from the liver tissue into the blood vessel. It is safe to predict that in the near future the application of the latest microscopy techniques in Plasmodium research will bring important insights and allow us spectacular views of parasites during their development in the liver.
疟原虫寄生虫是疟疾的病原体，首先在肝细胞内入侵和发育，然后感染红细胞并导致有症状的疾病。由于体外和体内的感染率较低，疟原虫感染的肝脏阶段不太适合生化分析，但与疟原虫血液阶段相比，寄生虫在这个阶段的体积较大，使得它可以进行显微镜分析。已经使用了多种成像技术来达到这个目的，从电子显微镜到宽场荧光和激光扫描共聚焦显微镜。特别是对荧光寄生虫的高速实时视频显微镜，从根本上改变了我们对疟原虫肝脏阶段发育的关键事件的看法。这包括由疟蚊接种的运动性子孢子的命运，以及疟原虫在从肝组织进入血管的-merosomes 内的运输。可以肯定地预测，在不久的将来，最新显微镜技术在疟原虫研究中的应用将带来重要的见解，并使我们能够在肝脏发育过程中壮观地观察寄生虫。
