The unhealthy attraction of Plasmodium vivax to reticulocytes expressing transferrin receptor 1 (CD71)

Abstract

The majority of malaria parasite species prefer to invade reticulocytes, the most infamous being Plasmodium vivax. While the absence of an in vitro continuous culture method has hampered the study of P. vivax invasion biology, studies utilising primate models and ex vivo assays have provided some important insights. Most importantly, P. vivax merozoites have a strong preference for a subset of immature erythrocytes characterised by the expression of the transferrin receptor (CD71). This current opinion piece on P. vivax merozoite invasion highlights important gaps in our understanding of how this parasite recognises and enters reticulocytes, and discusses some recent conceptual advances in P. vivax invasion biology.

Keywords: Duffy Antigen Chemokine Receptor (CD234); Merozoite invasion; Plasmodium vivax; Reticulocytes; Transferrin receptor (CD71).