Plasmodium falciparum infection reshapes the human microRNA profiles of red blood cells and their extracellular vesicles

We analyzed the miRNA profiles of noninfected human RBCs (niRBCs), ring-infected RBCs (riRBCs), and trophozoite-infected RBCs (trRBCs), as well as those of extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted from these cells.We found that Plasmodium falciparum infection affects the expression levels of several miRNAs in both human red blood cells and their secreted extracellular vesicles. We hypothesize that these miRNAs may act to modulate the host immune response and control the prognosis of malaria.

本研究分析了未感染人类红细胞（noninfected human RBCs，niRBCs）、环状体感染红细胞（ring-infected RBCs，riRBCs）、滋养体感染红细胞（trophozoite-infected RBCs，trRBCs），以及上述细胞分泌的细胞外囊泡（extracellular vesicles，EVs）的微RNA（miRNA）表达谱。研究发现，恶性疟原虫（Plasmodium falciparum）感染可改变人类红细胞及其分泌的细胞外囊泡中多种微RNA的表达水平。本研究推测，这类微RNA可能参与调控宿主免疫应答，并可影响疟疾的预后。