FIG. 2.

Cells expressing EhRabAQ84L exhibit reduced erythrophagocytosis. (A) Wild-type cells and cells expressing EhRabAQ84L were exposed to erythrocytes for 10 min, after which the level of ingested heme was measured by spectrophotometry. The data are reported as the percentage of uptake by wild-type cells, which was arbitrarily set to 100%. Uptake by the mutants was significantly lower than that of wild-type cells. **, P < 0.01. The data represent the means ± SD of four trials. (B) Wild-type cells and cells expressing EhRabAQ84L were exposed to erythrocytes for 40 min. At the indicated times, trophozoites were collected by centrifugation and the level of ingested heme was measured by spectrophotometry. The data are reported as means ± SD of absorbance at 405 nm for four trials. While mutant cells took up less heme overall, both cell lines exhibited similar kinetics of uptake.