COMPLETE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIVER STAGE OF PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM IN AHUMAN HEPATOMA-CELL LINE

Plasmodium falciparum parasites develop in the liver before being rele ased into the bloodstream, where they exert the potentially lethal eff ects characteristic of malaria. Our understanding of the hepatic phase of the life cycle is limited by the parasite's requirement for fresh human liver cells in which to mature. In this work, liver parasites co mpleted their development within a Thai human hepatoma cell line (HHS- 102), and the presence of ring-form parasites in erythrocytes overlyin g the liver cell culture confirmed that an entire liver cycle was comp leted, culminating in the production of viable blood-stage parasites. The HHS-102 cell line allows investigation of the undefined liver stag e of falciparum malaria previously unavailable in the laboratory.