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A model of a malaria-infected red blood cell may lead to better ways to treat malaria, according to a team of engineers and molecular biologists who investigated how this parasite infection causes the red blood cells to stiffen. Normal red blood cells are about 8 microns in size, but can circulate in the microvascular system with a diameter of 1 to 2 microns because they are flexible, deformable and durable.
Cells infected with the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, the most virulent form of malaria parasite, become stiff and sticky and become lodged in small blood vessels while the parasite is developing and so avoid the filtering action of the spleen.Image credit: Sunlin Zhang, Penn State
