Abstract
Intracellular pH (pHi) plays a critical role in the regulation of numerous biological functions where specific pH ranges are required for optimal operation within cells. Slight pH changes can impact the regulation of diverse molecular processes, including enzymatic activities, ion channels, and transporters, which all play a role in cell functions. Methods for quantifying pHi continue to evolve and include various optical methods using fluorescent pH indicators. Here, we provide a protocol to measure pHi in the cytosol of Plasmodium falciparum blood stage parasites by means of flow cytometry and using pHluorin2, a pH-sensitive fluorescent protein that has been introduced into the genome of the parasite.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding of the Fonds de Recherche du Quebec – Nature and Technology (FRQ-NT) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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Agyapong, J., Rohrbach, P. (2023). Quantifying pH in Malaria Using pHluorin and Flow Cytometry. In: Friedrich, O., Gilbert, D.F. (eds) Cell Viability Assays. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2644. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3052-5_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3052-5_13
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