Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35624125›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2022

The erythrocyte membrane properties of beta thalassaemia heterozygotes and their consequences for Plasmodium falciparum invasion.

Viola Introini, Alejandro Marin-Menendez, Guilherme Nettesheim, Yen-Chun Lin, Silvia N Kariuki, Adrian L Smith, Letitia Jean, John N Brewin, David C Rees, Pietro Cicuta and 2 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
2.6field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Human genetic variations conferring resistance to malaria.Journal of translational medicine · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Biophysical Tools and Concepts Enable Understanding of Asexual Blood Stage Malaria.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Viola Introini *Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9012-4696
Alejandro Marin-Menendez *Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4903-6392
Guilherme Nettesheim *Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7464-4333
Yen-Chun LinCavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Silvia N KariukiDepartment of Epidemiology and Demography, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.ORCID 0000-0003-0801-5285
Adrian L SmithUniversity of Oxford, Department of Zoology, Oxford, UK.
Letitia JeanUniversity of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford, UK.
John N BrewinKing's College London and King's College Hospital, London, UK.
David C ReesKing's College London and King's College Hospital, London, UK.
Pietro CicutaCavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9193-8496
Julian C RaynerCambridge Institute for Medical Research, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9835-1014
Bridget S PenmanUniversity of Warwick, Zeeman Institute, School of Life Sciences, Coventry, UK. b.penman@warwick.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0001-9803-5209
University of Cambridge · GBKing's College London · GBUniversity of Oxford · GBKenya Medical Research Institute · KEUniversity of Warwick · GBWellcome Sanger Institute · GB

Funding

Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust 206194/Z/17/ZWellcome Trust 220266/Z/20/ZWellcome Trust Wellcome 20485/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Malaria parasites such as Plasmodium falciparum have exerted formidable selective pressures on the human genome. Of the human genetic variants associated with malaria protection, beta thalassaemia (a haemoglobinopathy) was the earliest to be associated with malaria prevalence. However, the malaria protective properties of beta thalassaemic erythrocytes remain unclear. Here we studied the mechanics and surface protein expression of beta thalassaemia heterozygous erythrocytes, measured their susceptibility to P. falciparum invasion, and calculated the energy required for merozoites to invade them. We found invasion-relevant differences in beta thalassaemic cells versus matched controls, specifically: elevated membrane tension, reduced bending modulus, and higher levels of expression of the major invasion receptor basigin. However, these differences acted in opposition to each other with respect to their likely impact on invasion, and overall we did not observe beta thalassaemic cells to have lower P. falciparum invasion efficiency for any of the strains tested.

Indexed as

beta-ThalassemiaMalariaMalaria, FalciparumErythrocyte MembraneHeterozygoteHumansPlasmodium falciparum

Identifiers

PMID35624125
PMCPMC9142571
OpenAlexW4281780021

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.