Generation of a Mouse Model of Experimental Cerebral Malaria Using Host Mosquito-Derived Sporozoites

Abstract

Source: Hoffmann, A. et al., In Vivo Tracking of Edema Development and Microvascular Pathology in a Model of Experimental Cerebral Malaria Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. J. Vis. Exp.  (2017)

This video demonstrates the generation of an experimental mouse model of cerebral malaria. Sporozoites isolated from Plasmodium berghei-infected female mosquitoes are injected into a restrained mouse's tail veins, leading to blood-brain barrier disruption and brain inflammation, causing cerebral malaria. This infected mouse model offers a valuable tool to study in vivo microvascular pathology associated with cerebral malaria.

Protocol

All procedures involving animal models have been reviewed by the local institutional animal care committee and the JoVE veterinary review board.

1. Infection

1. Infect Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes with Plasmodium berghei ANKA by feeding them for 15 min on a gametocytemic mouse. Keep the infected mosquitoes at 80% humidity and 21 °C.
2. Collect female mosquitoes from their cage 17 to 22 days after the blood meal. Place them on ice to anesthetize them.
3. Using forceps, place three to four mosquitoes on a glass slide covered with a drop of cold RPMI medium. Place the slide under....

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Isoflurane	Baxter	1001747	for anesthesia
Dotarem	Guebert	1086923	Gd-DTPA contrast agent; 0.5mmol/ml
Amira (Image Processing Program)	FEI Group		Version Amira 5.3.2
MATLAB	The MathWorks, Inc.,		Release 2012b
FDT toolbox	FMRIB's Software Library