{"id":"doi:10.1111/mmi.70098","kind":"article","title":"A Genetically Encoded Marker for Imaging of Internal Plasmodium Membranes","authors":["Zink L","Reuschenbach V","Ahmed SS","Lauer M","Niethammer J","Kudulytė A","Zorko K","Fackler OT","Hentzschel F","Ganter M"],"author_count":10,"year":2026,"published":"2026-09-15","venue":"Molecular microbiology","cited_by":0,"doi":"10.1111/mmi.70098","arxiv_id":null,"nct_id":null,"source_url":"https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.70098","archive_url":"https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1111/mmi.70098","updated":null,"pmid":"42742062","pmcid":"PMC13644370","openalex_id":null,"pdf_url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13644370/pdf","abstract":"Fluorescence microscopy is a powerful tool to analyze the subcellular architecture, and long-term live-cell imaging permits the analysis of the dynamics of intracellular structures, such as membranes. Fluorescent labeling of the plasma membrane of Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, via membrane-resident proteins has been described, but proteins that broadly mark internal membranes are currently elusive. Alternatively, general membrane dyes can be employed to study membrane dynamics; however, we find that the membrane dye BODIPY TR Ceramide has adverse effects on cell viability during live-cell imaging. To overcome this limitation, we present IMMP (Internal Membrane Marker for Plasmodium), a 32-amino acid long peptide derived from P. falciparum PCNA1, which targets (fluorescent) protein tags to internal membranes for detection in live or fixed samples. Importantly, IMMP enables non-invasive, long-term live-cell imaging of internal membranes without affecting P. falciparum viability and is functional in blood stages of both the human malaria parasite P. falciparum and the rodent-infecting parasite P. berghei, as well as in P. berghei mosquito stages. IMMP is also compatible with advanced techniques such as expansion microscopy. Together, our results establish IMMP as a tool for internal membrane imaging in Plasmodium.","abstract_license":"CC-BY (article license as recorded by Europe PMC; abstract reproduced unmodified apart from markup removal)","license":"CC-BY","is_open_access":true,"retracted":false,"peer_reviewed":null,"categories":[],"details":null,"provenance":"europepmc","attribution":"Abstract of \"A Genetically Encoded Marker for Imaging of Internal Plasmodium Membranes\" by Zink L, Reuschenbach V, Ahmed SS et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.70098, used under its Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY); markup removed, otherwise unmodified.","topics":[{"slug":"connectomics","name":"Connectomics & Brain Mapping","domain_slug":"neuroscience"}],"cited_in_dossiers":[]}