Tanabe K, Izumo A, Kageyama K
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1986 May;35(3):476-8. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1986.35.476.
Transport of nutrients into animal cells is driven by transmembrane gradient of Na+ across the plasma membrane. The protozoan malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, however, grows within the host human erythrocytes, in which the cytoplasmic concentration of Na+ is maintained low by the membrane Na+, K+-ATPase. Our experiments show that human erythrocytes enriched with Na+ by treatment with ouabain (an inhibitor of the ATPase) will support the growth of P. falciparum in culture.
营养物质进入动物细胞是由钠离子跨质膜的跨膜梯度驱动的。然而，原生动物疟原虫恶性疟原虫在宿主人类红细胞内生长，通过膜钠钾ATP酶，红细胞内的钠离子胞质浓度保持在较低水平。我们的实验表明，用哇巴因（一种ATP酶抑制剂）处理使钠离子富集的人类红细胞将支持恶性疟原虫在培养物中的生长。
