Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 15: Postersession III

BP 15.65: Poster

Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 14:00–16:00, Poster B

The Alignment of the Malaria Parasite Before Invasion — •Sebastian Hillringhaus, Gerhard Gompper, and Dmitry A. Fedosov — Institute of Complex Systems, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites that reproduce within red blood cells. Before the parasite can enter a red blood cell, it must align with its apex towards the membrane. During the brief alignment stage, major deformations of the red blood cell membrane are observed. While these deformations can be visually classified in experiments, the underlying mechanics and mechanisms are not yet understood. We investigate this behavior in silico with a red blood cell model formulated within the dissipative particle dynamics framework. Different deformation states are quantified with a number of observables such as binding energy. We investigate how different interactions between the parasite and the membrane influence the parasite alignment as well as how the position of the first contact between cell and parasite affects red blood cell deformation. One of our aims is to answer the question, whether the observed deformations are crucial to the parasite alignment or byproduct of alignment mechanisms.