OF MAURER’S CLEFTS IN PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM–INFECTED ERYTHROCYTES

Abstract

In 1902 Georg Maurer was the first to publish a detailed description of Giemsa-stained structures in the cytosol of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes, today known as Maurer's clefts. Later when clefts were seen by electron microscopy, the description was modified to also include these, which has caused disagreement over the composition of Maurer's clefts. For that reason, Maurer's clefts were characterized during intraerythrocytic development of P. falciparum by simultaneously staining cytosolic structures with antibodies using indirect immunofluorescence assays and with Giemsa. At least three groups of antigens, P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1)/ RIFIN/SURFIN, P. falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2), and exported proteins 1 and 2 (Exp1 and Exp2), were detected in distinct Giemsa-stained structures in the cytosol of infected erythrocytes, but PfHRP2 and Exp1/Exp2 were not found in clefts by transmission electron microscopy. Therefore, Maurer's clefts as defined by staining with Giemsa comprise a number of cytoplasmic structures and antigens not included in structures called clefts and seen by electron microscopy.