Teresa Tiffert

Irreversible ATP depletion caused by low concentrations of formaldehyde and of calcium-chelator esters in intact human red cells

Calcium chelators which can be incorporated inside small cells without disruption have become useful tools to investigate the role of intracellular ionized calcium in the processes of cell activation and signal-effect mediation. In experiments designed to investigate further Ca2+ pump function in chelator-loaded human red cells we found that the chelator-loading procedure itself caused delayed Ca2+-pump inhibition when pump function was explored by increasing the intracellular Ca2+ levels with the aid of the divalent cation ionophore A23187. Ca2+-pump inhibition was found to be secondary to ATP-depletion, and ATP-depletion, in turn, could be attributed to formaldehyde, which was released during the hydrolytic incorporation of free chelator, from the cleavage of the four ester groups which anchor it to cell membranes on addition to cell suspensions. The evidence suggests that the formaldehyde released stays largely within the cells. Formaldehyde, in concentrations of up to 20 mmol/l cells had no direct effects on Ca2+ transport in red cells, other than through ATP depletion. Procedures to circumvent the difficulties arising from the formaldehyde effects are outlined and discussed.

The Homeostasis of Plasmodium falciparum-Infected Red Blood Cells

The asexual reproduction cycle of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for severe malaria, occurs within red blood cells. A merozoite invades a red cell in the circulation, develops and multiplies, and after about 48 hours ruptures the host cell, releasing 15–32 merozoites ready to invade new red blood cells. During this cycle, the parasite increases the host cell permeability so much that when similar permeabilization was simulated on uninfected red cells, lysis occurred before ∼48 h. So how could infected cells, with a growing parasite inside, prevent lysis before the parasite has completed its developmental cycle? A mathematical model of the homeostasis of infected red cells suggested that it is the wasteful consumption of host cell hemoglobin that prevents early lysis by the progressive reduction in the colloid-osmotic pressure within the host (the colloid-osmotic hypothesis). However, two critical model predictions, that infected cells would swell to near prelytic sphericity and that the hemoglobin concentration would become progressively reduced, remained controversial. In this paper, we are able for the first time to correlate model predictions with recent experimental data in the literature and explore the fine details of the homeostasis of infected red blood cells during five model-defined periods of parasite development. The conclusions suggest that infected red cells do reach proximity to lytic rupture regardless of their actual volume, thus requiring a progressive reduction in their hemoglobin concentration to prevent premature lysis.

FRET Imaging of Hemoglobin Concentration in Plasmodium falciparum-Infected Red Cells

Background During its intraerythrocytic asexual reproduction cycle Plasmodium falciparum consumes up to 80% of the host cell hemoglobin, in large excess over its metabolic needs. A model of the homeostasis of falciparum-infected red blood cells suggested an explanation based on the need to reduce the colloid-osmotic pressure within the host cell to prevent its premature lysis. Critical for this hypothesis was that the hemoglobin concentration within the host cell be progressively reduced from the trophozoite stage onwards. Methodology/Principal Findings The experiments reported here were designed to test this hypothesis by direct measurements of the hemoglobin concentration in live, infected red cells. We developed a novel, non-invasive method to quantify the hemoglobin concentration in single cells, based on Förster resonance energy transfer between hemoglobin molecules and the fluorophore calcein. Fluorescence lifetime imaging allowed the quantitative mapping of the hemoglobin concentration within the cells. The average fluorescence lifetimes of uninfected cohorts was 270±30 ps (mean±SD; N = 45). In the cytoplasm of infected cells the fluorescence lifetime of calcein ranged from 290±20 ps for cells with ring stage parasites to 590±13 ps and 1050±60 ps for cells with young trophozoites and late stage trophozoite/ early schizonts, respectively. This was equivalent to reductions in hemoglobin concentration spanning the range from 7.3 to 2.3 mM, in line with the model predictions. An unexpected ancillary finding was the existence of a microdomain under the host cell membrane with reduced calcein quenching by hemoglobin in cells with mature trophozoite stage parasites. Conclusions/Significance The results support the predictions of the colloid-osmotic hypothesis and provide a better understanding of the homeostasis of malaria-infected red cells. In addition, they revealed the existence of a distinct peripheral microdomain in the host cell with limited access to hemoglobin molecules indicating the concentration of substantial amounts of parasite-exported material.

Functional state of the plasma membrane Ca2+ pump in Plasmodium falciparum-infected human red blood cells.

1 The active Ca2+ transport properties of malaria‐infected, intact red blood cells are unknown. We report here the first direct measurements of Ca2+ pump activity in human red cells infected with Plasmodium falciparum, at the mature, late trophozoite stage. 2 Ca2+ pump activity was measured by the Co2+‐exposure method adapted for use in low‐K+ media, optimal for parasitised cells. This required a preliminary study in normal, uninfected red cells of the effects of cell volume, membrane potential and external Na+/K+ concentrations on Ca2+ pump performance. 3 Pump‐mediated Ca2+ extrusion in normal red cells was only slightly lower in low‐K+ media relative to high‐K+ media despite the large differences in membrane potential predicted by the Lew‐Bookchin red cell model. The effect was prevented by clotrimazole, an inhibitor of the Ca2+‐sensitive K+ (KCa) channel, suggesting that it was due to minor cell dehydration. 4 The Ca2+‐saturated Ca2+ extrusion rate through the Ca2+ pump (Vmax) of parasitised red cells was marginally inhibited (2‐27 %) relative to that of both uninfected red cells from the malaria‐infected culture (cohorts), and uninfected red cells from the same donor kept under identical conditions (co‐culture). Thus, Ca2+ pump function is largely conserved in parasitised cells up to the mature, late trophozoite stage. 5 A high proportion of the ionophore‐induced Ca2+ load in parasitised red cells is taken up by cytoplasmic Ca2+ buffers within the parasite. Following pump‐mediated Ca2+ removal from the host, there remained a large residual Ca2+ pool within the parasite which slowly leaked to the host cell, from which it was pumped out.

Cytoplasmic calcium buffers in intact human red cells.

1. Precise knowledge of the cytoplasmic Ca2+ buffering behaviour in intact human red cells is essential for the characterization of their [Ca2+]i‐dependent functions. This was investigated by using a refined method and experimental protocols which allowed continuity in the estimates of [Ca2+]i, from nanomolar to millimolar concentrations, in the presence and absence of external Ca2+ chelators. 2. The study was carried out in human red cells whose plasma membrane Ca2+ pump was inhibited either by depleting the cells of ATP or by adding vanadate to the cell suspension. Cytoplasmic Ca2+ buffering was analysed from plots of total cell calcium content vs. ionized cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([CaT]i vs. [Ca2+]i) obtained from measurements of the equilibrium distribution of 45Ca2+ at different external Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]o), in conditions known to clamp cell volume and pH. The equilibrium distribution of 45Ca2+ was induced by the divalent cation ionophore A23187. 3. The results showed the following. (i) The known red cell Ca2+ buffer represented by alpha, with a large capacity and low Ca2+ affinity, was the main cytoplasmic Ca2+ binding agent. (ii) The value of alpha was remarkably constant; the means for each of four donors ranged from 0.33 to 0.35, with a combined value of all independent measurements of 0.34 +/‐ 0.01 (mean +/‐ S.E.M., n = 16). This contrasts with the variability previously reported. (iii) There was an additional Ca2+ buffering complex with a low capacity (approximately 80 micromol (340 g Hb)(‐1)) and intermediate Ca2+ affinity (apparent dissociation constant, K(D,app) approximately 4‐50 microM) whose possible identity is discussed. (iv) The cell content of putative Ca2+ buffers with submicromolar Ca2+ dissociation constants was below the detection limit of the methods used here (less than 2 micromol (340 g Hb)(‐1)). 4. Vanadate (1 mM) inhibited the Vmax of the Ca2+ pump in inosine‐fed cells by 99.7%. The cytoplasmic Ca2+ buffering behaviour in these cells was similar to that found in ATP‐depleted cells.

Magnitude of calcium influx required to induce dehydration of normal human red cells

Activation by [Ca2+]i of Ca2+-sensitive K+ channels has long been known to cause dehydration of red cells suspended in low-K, plasma-like media. However, the fundamental question of the extent to which Ca influx must be increased to trigger dense cell formation in conditions likely to arise in the circulation has not been established. We report here that in ionophore permeabilized red cells, increasing Ca influx above 0.7 mmol/litre cells per h induces the formation of subpopulations of dehydrated cells within 1-2 hours. The presence or absence of glycolytic substrates had little effect suggesting that ATP depletion was not large enough to significantly inhibit the pump within that period. Below maximal dehydrating Ca influxes of about 1.2 mmol/litre cells per h, the trend was for the fraction of dense cells formed to remain steady in time. As Ca influx was increased, both the rate of dense cell formation and the fraction of dense cells formed increased. These results are analyzed in relation to mechanisms and to possible states of increased Ca2+ permeability in physiological and physiopathological conditions.

Hydrogen ion dynamics in human red blood cells

Our understanding of pH regulation within red blood cells (RBCs) has been inferred mainly from indirect experiments rather than from in situ measurements of intracellular pH (pHi). The present work shows that carboxy‐SNARF‐1, a pH fluorophore, when used with confocal imaging or flow cytometry, reliably reports pHi in individual, human RBCs, provided intracellular fluorescence is calibrated using a ‘null‐point’ procedure. Mean pHi was 7.25 in CO2/HCO3−‐buffered medium and 7.15 in Hepes‐buffered medium, and varied linearly with extracellular pH (slope of 0.77). Intrinsic (non‐CO2/HCO3−‐dependent) buffering power, estimated in the intact cell (85 mmol (l cell)−1 (pH unit)−1 at resting pHi), was somewhat higher than previous estimates from cell lysates (50–70 mmol (l cell)−1 (pH unit)−1). Acute displacement of pHi (superfusion of weak acids/bases) triggered rapid pHi recovery. This was mediated via membrane Cl−/HCO3− exchange (the AE1 gene product), irrespective of whether recovery was from an intracellular acid or base load, and with no evident contribution from other transporters such as Na+/H+ exchange. H+‐equivalent flux through AE1 was a linear function of [H+]i and reversed at resting pHi, indicating that its activity is not allosterically regulated by pHi, in contrast to other AE isoforms. By simultaneously monitoring pHi and markers of cell volume, a functional link between membrane ion transport, volume and pHi was demonstrated. RBC pHi is therefore tightly regulated via AE1 activity, but modulated during changes of cell volume. A comparable volume–pHi link may also be important in other cell types expressing anion exchangers. Direct measurement of pHi should be useful in future investigations of RBC physiology and pathology.

Passive Ca2+ Transport and Ca2-dependent K+ transport in Plasmodium falciparum-infected red cells

Abstract. Previous reports have indicated that Plasmodium falciparum-infected red cells (pRBC) have an increased Ca2+ permeability. The magnitude of the increase is greater than that normally required to activate the Ca2+-dependent K+ channel (KCa channel) of the red cell membrane. However, there is evidence that this channel remains inactive in pRBC. To clarify this discrepancy, we have reassessed both the functional status of the KCa channel and the Ca2+ permeability properties of pRBC. For pRBC suspended in media containing Ca2+, KCa channel activation was elicited by treatment with the Ca2+ ionophore A23187. In the absence of ionophore the channel remained inactive. In contrast to previous claims, the unidirectional influx of Ca2+ into pRBC in which the Ca2+ pump was inhibited by vanadate was found to be within the normal range (30–55 μmol (1013 cells · hr)−1), provided the cells were suspended in glucose-containing media. However, for pRBC in glucose-free media the Ca2+ influx increased to over 1 mmol (1013 cells · hr)−1, almost an order of magnitude higher than that seen in uninfected erythrocytes under equivalent conditions. The pathway responsible for the enhanced influx of Ca2+ into glucose-deprived pRBC was expressed at approximately 30 hr post-invasion, and was inhibited by Ni2+. Possible roles for this pathway in pRBC are considered.

Detection of Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells by optical stretching

We present the application of a microfluidic optical cell stretcher to measure the elasticity of malaria-infected red blood cells. The measurements confirm an increase in host cell rigidity during the maturation of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The device combines the selectivity and sensitivity of single-cell elasticity measurements with a throughput that is higher than conventional single-cell techniques. The method has potential to detect early stages of infection with excellent sensitivity and high speed.

X-ray microanalysis investigation of the changes in Na, K, and hemoglobin concentration in plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells.

Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for severe malaria. During the ∼48 h duration of its asexual reproduction cycle in human red blood cells, the parasite causes profound alterations in the homeostasis of the host red cell, with reversal of the normal Na and K gradients across the host cell membrane, and a drastic fall in hemoglobin content. A question critical to our understanding of how the host cell retains its integrity for the duration of the cycle had been previously addressed by modeling the homeostasis of infected cells. The model predicted a critical contribution of excess hemoglobin consumption to cell integrity (the colloidosmotic hypothesis). Here we tested this prediction with the use of electron-probe x-ray microanalysis to measure the stage-related changes in Na, K, and Fe contents in single infected red cells and in uninfected controls. The results document a decrease in Fe signal with increased Na/K ratio. Interpreted in terms of concentrations, the results point to a sustained fall in host cell hemoglobin concentration with parasite maturation, supporting a colloidosmotic role of excess hemoglobin digestion. The results also provide, for the first time to our knowledge, comprehensive maps of the elemental distributions of Na, K, and Fe in falciparum-infected red blood cells.