Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
15.7 ConclusionsandFutureOutlook
Despite.over.100.years.of.
Plasmodium
spp..research,.we.still.know.little.about.the.pathophys-
iology. of. this. major. cause. of. human. illness.. A. better. understanding. of. how. and. why.
malaria.parasites.change.the.nanotopography.of.host.cells.will.certainly.help.researchers.
identify.how.IRBCs.interact.with.the.host.endothelia.and.immune.system.
Current. rapid. instrumental. developments. of. AFM. to. combine. with. other. microscopy.
and.spectroscopy.techniques.make.it.possible.to.simultaneously.monitor.the.surface.phys-
ical.changes.and.track.different.biomarkers,.such.as.luorescently.labeled.molecules..The.
immune-AFM.method.can.even.map.the.spatial.and.dynamic.distribution.of.certain.mol-
ecules.with.nanometer.resolution,.with.the.help.of.the.quantum.dot.labeling.technique.
14,15
.
Furthermore,.another.exciting.aspect.of.AFM.is.its.ability.to.measure.the.force.of.adhesion.
between.parasite-derived.proteins.on.the.surface.of.the.IRBC.membrane.and.their.corre-
sponding.receptors.on.the.host.endothelium..With.further.development.in.this.nanotech-
nological. technique,. a. better. understanding. of. the. parasitology. and. pathophysiology. of.
this.disease.can.hopefully.be.achieved.
Acknowledgments
The. authors. acknowledge. support. provided. by. the. Global. Enterprise. for. Micro.
Mechanics. and. Molecular. Medicine. (GEM4). Laboratory. at. the. National. University. of.
Singapore. and. the. Singapore-MIT. Alliance.. We. are. grateful. to. the. staff. and. patients.
attending. the. Mae. Sod. Malaria. Clinic. Shoklo. Malaria. Research. Unit. (SMRU).. Many.
thanks. to. the. director. of. SMRU,. Prof.. Francois. Nosten,. and. the. head. of. the. Malaria.
Immunobiology.Laboratory,.Singapore.Immunology.Network.(SIgN,.A*STAR,.Biopolis),.
Prof..Laurent.Renia.
References
.
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3.. Cooke.BM,.Mohandas.N,.Coppel.RL..(2004)..Malaria.and.the.red.blood.cell.membrane..
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