Our research focuses on the properties of the membranes of malaria parasite-infected blood cells, including the parasitophorous vacuolar membrane (PVM), intracellular membranes installed by the parasite such as Maurer's Clefts, and the host cell membrane itself. We study how these properties vary in different human red blood cells carrying mutant hemoglobins, including hemoglobins S and C that can confer resistance to malaria infection. Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) in experiments with certain dyes provides information on membrane lipid content that is difficult or impossible to obtain by other methods. FLIM experiments help us to understand how malaria parasite membranes acquire their cholesterol content (as malaria parasites cannot synthesize cholesterol even though it is a critical molecule for proper membrane function). Results from these investigations will further our knowledge of molecular processes essential to malaria parasitism and may suggest strategies for new interventions against malaria infection.
