Revealing the Sequence and Resulting Cellular Morphology of Receptor-Ligand Interactions during Plasmodium falciparum Invasion of Erythrocytes
Fig 2
Strong merozoite deformation is associated with successful merozoite invasion.
(A) Representative images demonstrating levels of merozoite deformation of erythrocytes. (B) Diagram illustrating the derivation of deformation scores. (C) The percentages of each deformation score for the parasite strains used. The total scores are shown first followed by breakdown into invading and non-invading merozoites. The number (n) of interactions scored for each strain is shown below the columns. (D) There is no difference in deformation scores between the strains used, however in all strains the invading merozoites deformed their target erythrocytes significantly more than non-invading merozoites (last column).