FluoLib-PF: A comprehensive fluorophore library for imaging Plasmodium falciparum
A library of 450 structurally diverse compounds from 22 different classes of dyes for easy high-throughput screening.
The FluoLib-PF project aimed to identify novel fluorescent markers to visualize challenging organelle targets in Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for malaria. To achieve this goal, we have assembled a unique fluorophore library, comprising carefully curated dyes, both commercially available and innovative home-made dyes. We assembled a library of 450 compounds, that have been referenced, archived, organized, and aliquoted in 96-well plates for easy high-throughput screening. Specifically, we aimed to achieve a large structural diversity of compounds, to cover a broad range of biochemical and spectral properties, with more than 22 different classes of dyes. This now constitutes a powerful imaging tool, which will be made available to the community through the Chemical Synthesis Core Facility at EMBL. To benchmark the library and provide an initial application dataset, we initially screened all compounds in fixed cells from a standard cell line to evaluate how each dye localizes in the parasites. During the blood stage of infection with P. falciparum, the stage that causes all clinical symptoms, parasites undergo a unique replication mode known as schizogony. For this initial screen, we used an unsynchronized population of parasites so that we could screen for subcellular targets across all stages of red blood cell infection and have now identified candidates for further exploration.
The fluorophore library assembled at EMBL enables high-throughput screening and identification of fluorescent markers. Copyright: Franziska Walterspiel (EMBL).