Entry of Malaria Parasites into Resealed Ghosts of Human and Simian Erythrocytes

Whereas "white' ghosts, conventionally prepared by hypotonic lysis and washing are resistant to invasion by malaria parasites, cells lysed at high haematocrit and resealed without separating the membranes from the cytosol are invaded with high efficiency (not less than one-third the frequency of intact cells). Similar results were obtained with human and monkey cells, exposed respectively to Plasmodium falciparum and P. knowlesi. Microspectrophotometry of individual cells was used to ascertain the the susceptibility to invasion of lysed, resealed cells was not related to its haemoglobin content.