SKM 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 28: Poster Session II

BP 28.47: Poster

Donnerstag, 30. März 2023, 18:00–20:00, P2/EG

Bridging the gap between surface flows and motility patterns of malaria parasites — •Leon Lettermann¹, Mirko Singer², Falko Ziebert¹, Friedrich Frischknecht², and Ulrich S. Schwarz¹ — ¹ITP & Bioquant, Heidelberg University — ²CIID, Heidelberg University

Malaria is one of the most devasting infectious diseases and transmitted from mosquitos to humans by so-called Plasmodium sporozoites, which move by gliding motility. Myosin motors move actin filaments below the plasma membrane, which leads to surface flows of adhesins that are anchored into the plasma membrane. How this surface flow is converted into the complicated motility patterns observed in experiments is not clear. Here we introduce a theoretical model that bridges this gap. The coupling between surface flow and substrate is modeled by a system of reversible adhesion bonds. We numerically solve the resulting system of ordinary differential equations and find a rich variety of motility patterns, including the circular and helical paths observed in experiments. This allows us to estimate likely patterns of surface flows, which are hard to measure experimentally.