Plasmodium falciparum is usually asynchronous during in vitro culture. Highly synchronized cultures of P. falciparum are routinely used in malaria research. Here, we describe a simple synchronization procedure for P. falciparum asexual erythrocytic culture, which involves storage at 4 degrees C for 8-24 h followed by routine culture. When cultures with 27-60% of ring stage were synchronized using this procedure, 70-93% ring stages were obtained after 48 h of culture and relative growth synchrony remained for at least two erythrocytic cycles. To test the suitability of this procedure for subsequent work, drug sensitivity assays were perfornied using four laboratory strains and four freshly adapted clinical P. falciparum isolates. Parasites synchronized by sorbitol treatment or refrigeration showed similar dose-response curves and comparable IC50 values to four antimalarial drugs. The refrigeration synchronization method is simple, inexpensive, time-saving, and should be especially useful when large numbers of P. falciparum culture are handled. (C) 2014 Elsevier inc. All rights reserved.
[1]Kunming Med Univ, Dept Pathogen Biol & Immunol, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, Peoples R China.
[2]Kunming Med Univ, Dept Pharmacol, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, Peoples R China.
[3]USDA ARS, Anim Parasit Dis Lab, Beltsville, MD 20705 USA.
[4]Kunming Med Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, Peoples R China.
[5]Kunming Med Univ, Biomed Engn Res Ctr, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, Peoples R China.
[6]Kunming Med Univ, Dept Cell Biol & Genet, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, Peoples R China.
[7]Penn State Univ, Dept Entomol, University Pk, PA 16802 USA.
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