# Are all sporozoites equal? Analyses of transcriptomes from individual Plasmodium sporozoites using single cell RNA-seq

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2020 · $193,125

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Malaria caused half a million deaths and affected more than 200 million people worldwide in 2016. The disease
is caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted by the bites of infected mosquitoes. Thousands of sporozoites
are often present in the salivary glands of mosquitoes but only few of these are injected during a mosquito bite.
Our understanding of the regulation of this critical parasite stage has been hampered by the difficulty to obtain
sufficient amount of study material and, in particular, the reliance on pools of parasites has precluded examining
variations among sporozoites. Here, we propose to use single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the gene
expression regulation of individual sporozoites and to rigorously assess gene expression heterogeneity among
them. We will first study P. falciparum sporozoites and assess the effect of several key parameters on sporozoite
gene expression. Second, we will compare the profiles of sporozoites from Plasmodium species with and without
liver dormancy to test the hypothesis that the development into hypnozoites is pre-programmed in sporozoites.
Overall, our studies will provide unique insights on the biological processes underlying the maturation and fate
of Plasmodium sporozoites, and will significantly improve our understanding of malaria transmission as well as
provide a solid foundation for developing better malaria vaccines and drugs targeting the eluding dormant
parasites.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9846200
- **Project number:** 5R21AI143932-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** David Serre
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $193,125
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-07 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9846200

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9846200, Are all sporozoites equal? Analyses of transcriptomes from individual Plasmodium sporozoites using single cell RNA-seq (5R21AI143932-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9846200. Licensed CC0.

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