Basis of hemozoin immunoreactivity

INOR 98

Alexandra C. Schrimpe, a.schrimpe@vanderbilt.edu and David W. Wright, david.wright@vanderbilt.edu. Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, 7330 Stevenson Center, VU Station B Box 1822, Nashville, TN 37235-1822
Plasmodium protozoan parasites, the source of malarial infections, have evolved a detoxification scheme for protection from the products of hemoglobin catabolism by converting toxic heme into the insoluble biomineral hemozoin. In its native state, hemozoin is coated by a mixture of oxidized lipids and possesses immunosuppressive activity. Whether the source of this activity is a result of intrinsic pigment composition and structure, reactivity with a biological species such as lipids, or a combination of the two is unknown. We have explored the global impact on the transcriptome of RAW 264.7 cells treated with the synthetic form of hemozoin, â-hematin, and previously identified lipid components to determine the cellular response due to the biomineral and lipid components individually. Transcriptional changes that occur upon exposure to these species were identified using microarray technology and mapped to biological pathways known to be modulated during malarial infection.