Multicolor bioluminescence boosts malaria research: quantitative dual-color assay and single-cell imaging in Plasmodium falciparum parasites

Anal Chem. 2014 Sep 2;86(17):8814-21. doi: 10.1021/ac502098w. Epub 2014 Aug 15.

Abstract

New reliable and cost-effective antimalarial drug screening assays are urgently needed to identify drugs acting on different stages of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, and particularly those responsible for human-to-mosquito transmission, that is, the P. falciparum gametocytes. Low Z' factors, narrow dynamic ranges, and/or extended assay times are commonly reported in current gametocyte assays measuring gametocyte-expressed fluorescent or luciferase reporters, endogenous ATP levels, activity of gametocyte enzymes, or redox-dependent dye fluorescence. We hereby report on a dual-luciferase gametocyte assay with immature and mature P. falciparum gametocyte stages expressing red and green-emitting luciferases from Pyrophorus plagiophthalamus under the control of the parasite sexual stage-specific pfs16 gene promoter. The assay was validated with reference antimalarial drugs and allowed to quantitatively and simultaneously measure stage-specific drug effects on parasites at different developmental stages. The optimized assay, requiring only 48 h incubation with drugs and using a cost-effective luminogenic substrate, significantly reduces assay cost and time in comparison to state-of-the-art analogous assays. The assay had a Z' factor of 0.71 ± 0.03, and it is suitable for implementation in 96- and 384-well microplate formats. Moreover, the use of a nonlysing D-luciferin substrate significantly improved the reliability of the assay and allowed one to perform, for the first time, P. falciparum bioluminescence imaging at single-cell level.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antimalarials / pharmacology
  • Cell Line
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Humans
  • Luciferases / genetics
  • Luciferases / metabolism
  • Luminescent Measurements*
  • Microscopy, Video*
  • Parasitology / methods*
  • Plasmids / genetics
  • Plasmids / metabolism
  • Plasmodium falciparum / drug effects
  • Plasmodium falciparum / isolation & purification*
  • Plasmodium falciparum / metabolism
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Protozoan Proteins / genetics
  • Single-Cell Analysis

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Protozoan Proteins
  • Luciferases