Micronemal proteins AMA1 and EBA175 reside in separate micronemes.

3D7 parasites were prepared by ultrastructural expansion microscopy (U-ExM), stained with N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester (grayscale), SYTOX (cyan), and antibodies against the micronemal markers AMA1 (magenta) and EBA-175 (yellow), and imaged using Airyscan microscopy in segmenting schizonts. (a) Images of whole parasites throughout schizogony. In schizonts still undergoing segmentation, AMA1 localized to the apical end while EBA175 was not detected. In late schizonts, both EBA175 and AMA1 were present in the micronemes. In E64-arrested schizonts, AMA1 was translocated to the merozoite surface while EBA175 remained micronemal. 3D rendering (b) and zooms (c) of merozoites with either micronemal or translocated AMA1. Foci of AMA1 and EBA175 to not routinely co-localize with each other. Images are maximum-intensity projections, number on image = Z-axis thickness of projection in µm. White scale bars = 2 µm, RGB scale bars for 3D rendering = 1 µm. Liffner B, Cepeda Diaz AK, Blauwkamp J, Anaguano D, Frolich S, Muralidharan V, Wilson DW, Dvorin JD, Absalon S. Atlas of Plasmodium falciparum intraerythrocytic development using expansion microscopy. Elife. 2023 12:RP88088.