Anti-RALP1 antibody causes merozoites to aberrantly release RAP1 in a MIBA. (A) Imaging of erythrocyte-associated merozoites stained with anti-RAP1 antibody and DAPI for analysis of RAP1 localization during invasion in the presence of anti-RALP1-C1 antibody. Merozoites were categorized into three types based on their RAP1 staining patterns: 1, RAP1 unreleased; 2, RAP1 properly released into the PV; 3, RAP1 aberrantly released onto the erythrocyte or merozoite surface. The scale bars represent 5 μm. DIC, differential interference contrast. (B) Stacked bar graph comparing the mean percentages of merozoites of types 1 to 3 (shown in panel A) in the presence of anti-GST (αGST) or anti-RALP1-C1 (α-C1) antibody. to D, Ito D, Hasegawa T, Miura K, Yamasaki T, Arumugam TU, Thongkukiatkul A, Takeo S, Takashima E, Sattabongkot J, Han ET, Long CA, Torii M, Tsuboi T. RALP1 is a rhoptry neck erythrocyte-binding protein of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites and a potential blood-stage vaccine candidate antigen. Infect Immun. 2013. PMID: 24002067