Culture of Exoerythrocytic Stages of the Malaria Parasites Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax

The two most prevalent human malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax , cause the majority of malaria-related morbidity and mortality. Compared with our knowledge about the erythrocytic stages, we understand little about the liver exoerythrocytic (EE) stages of the human malaria parasites. Our recent development of a hepatocyte line from normal human liver tissue is crucial for successful culturing of the liver stages of both P. falciparum and P. vivax . This technical advancement should be an important tool for directly studying developmental biology of the EE stages of the human malaria parasites and developing drugs against parasite liver stages.