Arresting Behaviour

Delirium, seizures, and deep coma. These are all signs of cerebral malaria, one of the most severe consequences of being infected with the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. How this parasite causes cerebral malaria is still unclear. Researchers modelled this condition in mice using two types of Plasmodium; one that causes cerebral malaria and one that doesn’t. Using fluorescent microscopy they found both types caused the immune cells, T lymphocytes (green), to accumulate alongside blood vessels (red) in the brain. However comparing the behaviour of T cells in these brains revealed those in brains infected with parasites that cause cerebral malaria (pictured) behaved quite differently. They were arrested, moving more slowly and not venturing as far. More digging is now needed to find out how this uniquely sluggish behaviour contributes to the detriment of brain function in cerebral malaria.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Tovah N. Shaw and Phillip J. Stewart-Hutchinson, and colleagues
• University of Glasgow, and University of Manchester UK, and Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York, NY, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Pathogens, November 2015