Single cell transcriptional profile across the blood stages of artemisinin resistant K13C580Y mutant Plasmodium falciparum upon dihydroartemisinin exposure

Artemisinins have been a cornerstone of malaria control, but resistance in Plasmodium falciparum, due to mutations in the Kelch 13 gene, threaten these advances. Artemisinin exposure results in a dynamic transcriptional response across multiple pathways, but most work has focused on ring stages and ex vivo transcriptional analysis, limiting evaluation of all life cycle stages. In this study, we explored the single cell transcriptomic profile of K13 580Y mutant (CamWT_C580Y, MRA-1251) and K13 C580 wildtype (CamWT, MRA-1250) P. falciparum isogenic lines following ART exposure for 6 hour and monitored gene expression changes every 2hrs in exposed and unexposed parasites.