Background
Intraerythrocytic sexual stages of human malaria parasites are essential for the transmission of
Plasmodium falciparum from human host to mosquito. In contrast to the 48-hour blood stage life cycle of asexual parasites, it takes 9–12 days for
P. falciparum gametocytes to fully develop inside human red blood cells (RBCs). During this time the gametocytes progress through five morphologically distinct stages. The prolonged duration of gametocyte maturation is a unique feature of only a few
Plasmodium species infecting higher primates (
P. falciparum and
P. reichenowi) [
1,
2]. Infection with
P. falciparum causes by far the highest morbidity of all human
Plasmodium species. During the intraerythrocytic development, asexual parasites modify the host cell membrane extensively by exporting a range of proteins [
3]. These modifications include a marked increase in adhesiveness [
3] and changes in fluidity [
4‐
6], fatty acid composition [
7‐
10], phospholipid organization [
11‐
13] and permeability [
14‐
17] of the parasitized host cell membrane. In contrast, little is known about host cell remodelling by gametocytes. In recent studies, the membranes of RBCs infected with later stage gametocytes (stage IV and V) have been found to be more deformable than those of the disease causing asexual parasites [
18‐
20].
Membrane lipids of RBCs are believed to be the foundation of these cells’ exquisite stability and deformability [
21]. The biconcave disk shaped human cells are devoid of a nucleus and of most cellular organelles. Upon infection and development of the asexual parasite the surface of the RBC membrane displays membrane protrusions—so called knobs, which harbour the virulence factor PfEMP1 that mediates cytoadhesion. The volume of the RBC increases only slightly (by ~17 %) while the parasite develops into the trophozoite stage [
22]. However, at the same time the parasite occupation within the RBC volume changes from initially 4 to 80 % [
23]. There is enormous demand for lipids due to parasite growth inside the host cell [developing organelles (e.g. nucleus, mitochondria, food vacuoles and apicoplast) surrounded by membranes and accumulating lipids in lipid bodies] and subsequent replication. Additionally, new lipid structures also appear inside the host cell: the parasite is surrounded by a parasitophorous vacuole membrane [
24] and new parasite induced membranous structures (Maurer’s clefts and transport vesicles) emerge, which play an important role in trafficking of parasite virulence factors to the surface of infected red blood cell (iRBC) membranes.
Upon induction of gametocytes the infected red blood cell undergoes remarkable modifications: initially the cell morphology is indistinguishable from asexual infected RBC, but in later stages the gametocyte-infected RBC elongate before rounding up again. Especially in the more mature stages most of the host cell volume is taken up by the parasite. Inside the parasite lipid accumulations, in the form of lipid bodies and osmiophilic bodies, can be observed. The latter are more pronounced in the female form and are named for their intensive lipid staining by osmium tetroxide.
Most of the observed increases in lipids in
Plasmodium-infected red blood cells can be attributed to plasmodial membrane phospholipids. Despite the high lipid demand for extensive proliferation of the asexual parasites, the parasite cannot de novo synthesize cholesterol [
7,
10,
25,
26] and has only limited capacity for fatty acid synthesis [
27]. Furthermore, the host RBCs themselves are also incapable of de novo biosynthesizing fatty acids [
28], cholesterol or phospholipids [
29]. Therefore, the parasites actively scavenge these lipid precursors from the serum to metabolize them into the required lipids [
30,
31]. In
P. falciparum, host-derived cholesterol and parasite-driven biosynthesis of sphingolipids and phospholipids are crucial for intraerythrocytic development [
32‐
35]. Hence, molecules involved in biosynthesis of lipids were suggested to be attractive targets for novel chemotherapies against
P. falciparum [
34,
36‐
38].
In contrast to the considerable number of reports on the lipid composition and metabolism in the asexual blood-stages of the malaria parasite, essentially nothing is known about the lipid composition of the sexual stages and its alterations during sexual development. Bobenchik et al. recently supplied genetic and pharmacological evidence that the synthesis pathway for phosphatidylcholine is essential for gametocytogenesis and transmission to mosquitoes and novel anti-malarial compounds have been identified targeting enzymes involved in the lipid synthesis [
39,
40].
In this study, it was hypothesized that the profound and extraordinary morphological changes seen during gametocyte maturation is reflected in the lipid composition. The lipid profiles of RBCs infected with the five different sexual stages of P. falciparum, therefore, were comprehensively analysed by mass spectrometry and compared to those obtained from uninfected and asexual trophozoite infected RBCs. Understanding the biological concepts behind the contribution of lipids to the sexual parasite growth will allow the development of novel approaches to prevent malaria transmission. Comparing the lipid composition of related apicomplexan parasites and their different hosts and vectors might highlight crucial lipid species, possibly responsible for the host and vector specificity of Plasmodium.
Methods
Parasite culture
Parasites of the
P. falciparum 3D7 strain were cultured using the standard methods with slight modifications [
41,
42]. Parasites were maintained in O+ RBCs at 4 % haematocrit resuspended in RPMI medium supplemented with 10 mM glucose, 480 μM hypoxanthine, 20 μg/mL gentamycin and 10 % (v/v) human serum. Cultures were maintained at 37 °C under microaerophilic conditions (1 % O
2, 5 % CO
2, 94 % N
2). Asexual parasites were synchronized by a double sorbitol treatment [
43]. Fresh frozen plasma was pooled from at least five different donors and heat-inactivated.
Uninfected RBCs were collected in CPD buffer (26.3 g/L sodium citrate dihydrate, 3.27 g/L citric acid monohydrate, 2.51 g/L monobasic sodium phosphate dihydrate, 25.5 g/L dextrose monohydrate) and used within 7 days of collection. RBCs for analysis were incubated in culture media and the same conditions as parasite infected RBCs.
Gametocyte commitment and harvesting
Induction of gametocytogenesis and collection of highly synchronous gametocytes were performed as described previously [
44] with slight modifications. Briefly, 2 % synchronous trophozoites were incubated overnight to obtain about 8–10 % ring stage parasites. In order to induce sexual development, the parasites were fed with medium containing 75 % of the spent parasite-conditioned medium. On the next day (designated as day-1) when parasites reached trophozoite stage, the culture was split to obtain 2 % trophozoites with the retention of one-third of the spent medium. After overnight incubation, about 8–10 % “stressed” ring-stage parasites appeared in the culture the next day, which was designated as day 0. All mature asexual parasites were excluded by magnet purification (CS and D columns; MACS Cell Separation, Miltenyi Biotec), while all ring-stage parasites containing both sexual and asexual ring stages were collected in the flow-through and then split to 2 % parasitaemia.
Subsequently, the medium was replaced daily with fresh medium containing 50 mM N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine (GluNAc) to kill all mature asexual parasites [
45]. In order to restrict the growth of the asexual parasites during the early period of GluNAc treatment, the culture was treated with 5 % sorbitol on the following day (day +1) to eliminate all the mature asexual parasites, but not the committed gametocytes [
46]. The culture was maintained for 12 days until gametocytes became mature. Within one biological replicate samples from the same culture were collected; three independent biological replicates were analysed. Stage I gametocytes were collected on day 2 of commitment, with additional stages collected every 2 days thereafter. Gametocytes were magnet purified with gametocyte infected RBC sticking to the magnet column. All dead cells and uRBC were washed out with pre-warmed media. Gametocytes were then eluted. Purity (>95 %) and stage were checked by Giemsa-stained thin smears and Western blotting using the gametocyte marker Pfs16 [see Additional file
1].
Lipid labelling assay
Cellular cholesterol was labelled by washing cells three times in PBS followed by an incubation in PBS containing 5 μM 25-NBD-cholesterol (Avanti Polar) (10 mM stock made in 100 % ethanol) at 37 °C for 1 h. For the neutral lipid labelling cells were washed three times with PBS before being fixed with 4 % formaldehyde in PBS at RT for 20 min. The cells were then washed three times with PBS and incubated with PBS containing 1 × LipidTOX Red Neutral Lipid Stain (Invitrogen) at RT for 30 min.
Polar lipids were labelled washing the cells three times in PBS and incubating them in a 1 μg/mL Nile Red (Sigma) solution in PBS (1 mg/ml stock in 100 % acetone) at 37 °C for 1 h.
With the exception of the cholesterol labelled cells, which were imaged with a filter set for Alex Fluor 488 dye (green), all labelled cells were imaged with a filter set for Alex Fluor 594 dye (red) on a deconvolution microscope (DeltaVision Elite, Applied Precision). All images were recorded at the same setting and exposure time. Images were deconvolved using the softWoRx acquisition software (version 5.0) and then processed with ImageJ 1.43u software (NIH, USA).
Lipidomic analysis
Synchronous parasitized RBCs were enriched using magnetic cell separating columns (CS and D columns; MACS Cell Separation, Miltenyi Biotec), and then counted on a haemocytometer. Lipid extraction was performed according to the method of Matyash et al. [
47]. Analysis was performed on three independent cell harvests (serving as biological replicates).
In brief, approximately 10
7 of magnet-purified cells were added to 2 mL tough tubes (Geneworks, Hindmarsh, SA, Australia), fixed with 300 μL of methanol and stored at −80 °C until extraction step. An aliquot of 100 μL of methanol containing 0.01 % butylated hydroxytoluene and internal standards (see Additional file
2) were added to each tube. Samples were homogenized using a bead homogenizer (FastPrep-24, MP Biomedical, Seven Hills, NSW, Australia) at 6 m/s for 40 s and the homogenate was transferred to 2 mL microcentrifuge tubes (Eppendorf, North Ryde, NSW, Australia). Beads were washed with 100 μL of methanol and the wash added to the homogenate. One millilitre of methyl-tert butyl ether was added and samples were vortexed at 4 °C for 1 h. To induce phase separation 300 μL of 150 mM ammonium acetate (LC–MS grade, Fluka, Castle Hill, NSW, Australia) was added. Tubes were vortexed for 15 min and spun at 2000
g for 5 min to complete phase separation. Eight hundred μL of the upper organic layer was transferred to a new 2 mL glass vial and stored at −20 °C until analysis. Extracts were diluted 40-fold into methanol:chloroform (2:1 v/v) containing 5 mM ammonium acetate prior to mass spectrometric analysis.
Mass spectra were acquired using a chip based nano-electrospray ionization source (TriVersa Nanomate
®, Advion, Ithaca, NY, USA) coupled to a hybrid linear ion trap- triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (QTRAP
® 5500, ABSCIEX, Foster City, CA, USA) [
48]. Ten microliter of extract was aspirated from a sealed 96-well plate (Eppendorf Twin- Tec) and delivered into the mass spectrometer via a nano-electrospray ionization (ESI) chip with an orifice diameter of 4.1 μm. The delivery gas was nitrogen at a pressure of 0.4 psi and a spray voltage of 1.15 kV was used for positive ion acquisition. Target lipids and MS scan parameters are shown in Additional file
3. Experimental conditions for positive ion mode acquisition were a declustering potential of 100 V, entrance potential of 10 V and a scan rate of 200
m/z units.s
-1. Mass spectra were averaged over 50 scans.
Data were analysed with LipidView
® (ABSCIEX) software version 1.2, including smoothing, identification, removal of isotope contribution from lower mass species, and correction for isotope distribution. Ionized lipids detected with a signal-to-noise ratio (s/n) over 20 were included in the analysis. Extraction and solvent blanks were included in the analysis to allow exclusion of ions detected at lipid masses that result from extraction chemical or solvent impurities. Quantification was achieved in LipidView
® software by comparison of the peak area of individual lipids to their class-specific internal standards after isotope correction. Ion detected at masses that could be assigned to odd-chain fatty acid, phospholipids or ether-linked phospholipids were assumed to be ether-linked. Ether-linked PE species produce the 141 head group fragments at approximately 29 % of the efficiency of di-acyl PE species [
49]; therefore, a correction factor of 3.45 was applied to all ether-PE species [
50]. Sphingomyelin species were detected using the 184.1
m/z precursor ion scan, which cannot distinguish between isobaric DHSM and SM species. Ion detected at masses that could be assigned to DHSM or SM were assumed to contain the major SM backbone d18:1, and were listed as species indicating the respective N-linked fatty acid. Lipid molecular species were notated in accordance with the recently proposed shorthand by Liebisch et al. [
51], except for DAG and TAG.
Statistics
Data were presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD). To determine differences between seven groups of cells based on their total lipid, phospholipid, sphingolipid, cholesterol or neutral lipid levels, one-way ANOVA test or unpaired Student’s t test was performed using GraphPad Prism 5.0. Principal component analysis (PCA) data processing was performed using MarkerView v1.2.1.1 (Applied Biosystems | MDS Sciex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Data from LipidView were exported to Microsoft® Excel (v14.3.9), group labels were added, and data were imported into Markerview with lipid ID and quantification included. Data were scaled using Pareto scaling and no weighting was applied. PCA was performed in an unsupervised mode. Data were graphed using GraphPad Prism 5.0 and Microsoft® Excel (v14.3.9).
Discussion
The presented study shows that lipid composition of parasite-infected RBCs significantly alters during the sexual development of
P. falciparum and that individual parasite stages can be distinguished by their unique lipid profile. Compared to uninfected RBCs the amount of total lipids increased in trophozoite-infected RBCs 2.5-fold with the majority of lipids accumulating inside the parasite, whereas lipid content more than doubled when the parasite developed to a fully matured gametocyte with significant amounts of lipids additionally distributed across its host cell cytosol and membrane [see Additional file
4]. This overall increase in lipids however is not reflected in all lipid species: the proportion of phospholipids is nearly halved in stage V gametocytes compared to trophozoite-infected RBCs (37 vs 61 %). At the same time neutral lipids, sphingomyelin and cholesterol increase significantly in gametocytes (27 vs 18 %, 7 vs 2 % and 29 vs 19 %, respectively), resulting in a net increase in total lipids. Although below the detection limit in trophozoite stages, CEs rise to considerable levels during gametocyte maturation. Overall, the lipid composition of mature gametocytes is significantly different to the lipid profile of trophozoite-infected RBC.
Previous transcriptome and proteome studies have revealed little in terms of proteins involved in lipid metabolism. However, Silvestrini et al. analysed the proteome of stage I and II gametocytes [
68]. These authors identified 25 genes in these stages that are associated with three lipid-specific GO terms (cellular lipid metabolism, lipid metabolic process, lipid biosynthetic process). The overall expression profiles of these genes [
69] are consistent with the findings of our studies: in comparison to trophozoite stages the transcripts of biosynthetic enzymes that are involved in the production of phospholipids (like phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase or phosphatidylglycerophosphate synthase) are decreased in gametocytes whereas transcripts for enzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis are increased in gametocytes (e.g. steryl ester hydrolase or geranyl geranyl pyrophosphate synthase).
Lipids involved in iRBC morphology
Morphological changes during gametocyte development include a conversion of a fairly spherical trophozoite infected RBC to an increase in length resulting in the characteristic crescent shape in later stage gametocytes. At the same time the surface area and volume of infected RBCs do not change significantly [
20,
70]. Although this transformation is partly driven by structures underneath the host cell membrane (i.e. the inner membrane complex [
19] and microtubules [
71]), the present analysis suggests a potential involvement of lipids.
The larger proportion of phospholipids (in particular PC) present in trophozoite compared to gametocytes infected RBCs might reflect the need for these lipids in preparation for merozoite membrane production. Female gametocytes do not have this requirement and any additional lipid membranes that might be required in the male gametocyte will be less obvious due to the sex bias towards females.
Lipids important for the survival in the host
The major mechanisms that prevent immature gametocytes from entering the peripheral circulation seem to be mechanical retention in the bone marrow and the spleen [
18]. Maturation of gametocytes is characterized by the transformation of a relatively stiff infected RBC to a deformable late stage gametocyte (similar to uRBCs), which is released into the peripheral circulation of the host in order to facilitate transmission to mosquitoes. The shift in the relative content of cholesterol and SM during the development of
P. falciparum gametocytes observed in our study is consistent with the change in the deformability of malaria sexual parasites and splenic pass rates [
18‐
20] published recently. The molecular mechanism responsible for the shift from stiff, adherent to deformable, circulating gametocytes is still poorly understood but possibly involves both the synthesis and partial destruction of the inner membrane complex of gametocytes [
19] and the membrane lipid composition as described in this study. The changes seen in stage IV can be interpreted as the preparation of the gametocyte for a ride in the circulation, once the stage V gametocytes stop sequestering. Hence, the changes in lipid composition might facilitate the availability of gametocytes for transmission in the peripheral blood.
Cholesterol is a key molecule for the stability of biological membranes, however, excess free cholesterol is toxic for cells [
72]. Given the importance of cholesterol homeostasis the fluctuation of cholesterol during the parasite development is remarkable. Membranes of uninfected RBCs are particularly rich in cholesterol (e.g. Fig.
1). There are three possible mechanisms for the observed drop in cholesterol content upon infection: (1) increased metabolism and conversion into other molecules, (2) reduced uptake from the serum and/or (3) increased excretion. The removal of cholesterol by converting it into CE is unlikely, since CE is almost absent in the trophozoite stages.
The predominance of PC, PE and PG molecular species containing mono-unsaturated C34:1 acyl composition in the trophozoite-infected RBCs is consistent with the data shown in a recent report [
73] and the finding that the asexual parasites require exogenous supply of oleic acid (C18:1) and palmitic acid (C16:0) for normal growth [
74]. The abundance of PC 34:1 and PE 34:1 in gametocytes suggests a similar role for oleic acid and palmitic acid in the development of gametocytes.
Most recently, Gulati et al. [
75] provided compelling evidence that lipid classes, which are enriched in certain life-cycle stages (like TAGs and SM), represent excellent drug targets. This is of particular importance given the relative abundance of pharmacological compounds targeting the lipid metabolism already approved for use in humans.
The unique lipid composition, the dependence on key lipid species and the absence of obvious enzyme homologues for lipid conversion might provide new avenues to stop Plasmodium infections.
Lipids involved in storage
Mature gametocytes face profound changes in their environment after they are taken up by the mosquito. In order to avoid being digested with the blood meal and to be able to undergo sexual recombination through the fusion of male and female gametes the parasite has to undergo rapid and far-reaching changes.
Neutral lipids are the main contributor to the substantial increase in overall lipids upon parasite infection and gametocyte maturation. uRBCs contain hardly any storage lipids. They are believed to be mainly present in lipid bodies [
57‐
59]. The accumulation and carry over of essential lipids in the female parasite ensures their availability after transition to and fertilization in the mosquito.
Despite being virtually absent in uninfected and trophozoite-infected RBCs [
55], CEs are highly enriched upon gametocyte maturation. The increases in CE levels are likely to contribute to the enhanced formation of neutral lipid bodies in gametocytes. In mammalian cells, CE functions primarily as caloric reserves and as caches of fatty acid and sterol components that are needed for membrane biogenesis [
65]. Of note is also that in stage IV gametocyte infected RBCs the ratio of unsaturated to saturated neutral lipids is almost four times higher than in uRBCs [see Additional file
6D]. Mosquitos lack the biochemical pathways to add a second or third double bond into fatty acids nor can they synthesize sterols de novo [
76]. Hence access to poly-unsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol might be restricted for the parasite once inside the mosquito.
Along with cholesterol and CEs, other neutral lipids including DAGs and TAGs also accumulate in gametocytes. Apart from CE, TAG is also a major storage lipid present in lipid bodies [
59,
66]. The remarkable enrichment of neutral lipids in mature gametocytes may serve as a major energy storage to fuel the sudden increase in protein and phospholipid biosynthesis required during gametogenesis and early zygote development in the insect host when there is limited access to certain lipid species. Competition for lipids is a major factor by which mosquitoes carrying the bacterial endosymbiont
Wolbachia are better protected against infections with pathogens including
Plasmodium [
77]. Hence understanding lipid acquisition, storage and usage of lipids in
P. falciparum might lead to novel intervention strategies.
Lipids as signalling molecules
Signalling events are especially important in the late stages of gametocytogenesis. An increase in lipids potentially acting as signalling molecules in the mature gametocyte is therefore not surprising and might reflect the preparation of this gametocyte stage for activation.
The enrichment of DAG in mature gametocytes may mirror the sensitive state of the cells: profound changes are imminent for the transition to the mosquito such as rounding-up, egress from host cell and differentiation into micro- and macrogametes.
It has been shown previously that ceramides are able to replace cholesterol in microdomains and that this change might facilitate the action of membrane-associated proteins and, therefore, allow cross-talk between different signalling pathways [
78,
79]. The significant increase in ceramides in the mature gametocyte stages might reflect the activation of these signalling pathways.
However, secondary messengers are likely to function locally and in a short time window, the resolution of the global lipidomic analysis approach on hand is not sensitive enough to draw definitive conclusions for the role of these lipids in signalling events.
Conclusions
For the first time a comprehensive analysis of the lipid composition of red blood cells infected with the five different gametocyte stages of P. falciparum is presented in this study. The lipid constituents of each individual stage are specific and this information will provide the basis for a better understanding of the parasite’s metabolism. It will also help in the identification and rationalization of drugs that target lipids. Ideally, the analysis would have distinguished between the parasite itself and the surrounding host cell. However, due to the inability to completely separate host from parasite material (since saponin interferes dramatically with the lipids in the membrane) this was not done. In order to investigate the particular low-level lipids, a targeted scanning mass-spectrometry approach with corresponding lipid standards is required.
Since gametocytes take up significant amounts of cholesterol and other lipids from the host cell and/or serum to support their growth, the identification of enzymes involved in lipid metabolic pathways by functional genomics will be significant. Further studies on lipidomics of isolated organelles/subfractions in relation to that of whole parasites as well as using metabolic radioactive labelling may also provide new insights into lipid metabolic pathways of transmissible stages of the malaria parasite. Furthermore, determining the different lipid composition in male and female gametocytes might provide clues about the mechanism of fertilization. The parasite lipidome is a promising area both in terms of uncovering novel biological mechanisms and for the discovery of new drugs to prevent malaria transmission.
Authors’ contributions
PNT and AGM conceived and designed study. PNT, MR, SHB and MCR performed experiments. PNT, SHB, MR, TWM and AGM analysed data. PNT and AGM wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the manuscript.