Fig. 5: The small molecule inhibitor SMIFH2 kills asexual stages and gametocytes.
From: Plasmodium falciparum formins are essential for invasion and sexual stage development
a Live-cell immunofluorescence microscopy of stage IV gametocytes following overnight treatment with SMIFH2 inhibitor at differing concentrations. Merged images of FRM2-GFP (green) parasites labelled with the membrane dye Bodipy (red) and DIC images are shown. Scale bars = 5 μm. b Quantification of effects of SMIFH2 treatment on gametocyte morphology. Irregular parasites include those that are deformed or rounded in shape. The data represent the proportion of cells exhibiting each morphology. The means and standard error of the mean are shown from three independent experiments. c Immunofluorescence microscopy of SMIFH2 treated stage IV gametocytes labelled with anti-actin (red), anti-β-tubulin (magenta), native FRM2-GFP (green) and DAPI (blue). Concentrations of SMIFH2 are listed on the left. White arrows point to an accumulation of microtubules at the parasite periphery following SMIFH2 treatment. Blue arrows highlight a decrease in F-actin staining at the gametocyte tips. Scale bars = 5 μm. Source data for this figure is provided in the Source Data files.
