Comparative transcriptional analysis of pre-erythrocytic stages

To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms at work during progression through the pre-erythrocytic stages, a comparative microarray based transcriptional study was under taken on radiation attenuated (RAS) and wild type sporozoites (wtSPZ) as well as, and liver stage parasites collected 24 hours (24hrLS) and 48 hours (48hrLS) after wild type sporozoite infection. We were able to identify ~1100 genes significantly differentially expressed during one or more of the pre-erythrocytic stages relative to the mixed blood stages. This study compared the gene expression profiles of radiation attenuated sporozoites (RAS), wild type sporooites (wtSPZ), and infected hepatocytes collected 24hr (24hrLS) and 48hr (48hrLS) after sporozoite infection, using a common reference design. Each sample was hybridized with an equal amount of reference RNA. 48hrLS: 4 biological replicates, with 2 total technical replicates and one dye swap; 24hrLS: 4 biologicla replicates, with 3 total technical replicates; RAS: 2 biological replicates, with 2 technical replicates total, and two tota dye swaps; wtSPZ: 2 biological replicates, with 2 total technical replicates and 2 total dye swaps