Fig 1. Differential gene expression of aquaporins during the liver stage of P. berghei.

(A) Differential gene expression of all human aquaporin isoforms in HepG2 hepatocytes post P. berghei infection compared to uninfected cells (n = 2–4 biological replicates). AQP3 is differentially expressed (p = 1.55 x 10⁻⁷) in infected cells, but other aquaporin family members do not exhibit significant differential expression. (B) qRT-PCR quantification of AQP3 mRNA expression at 48 hpi in both HuH7 and HepG2 cells. P. berghei infected HuH7 cells had a 4.1-fold increase in AQP3 mRNA transcripts compared to uninfected HuH7 cells (**p = 0.0075, unpaired Student’s t-test; n = 4 independent experiments) and HepG2 infected cells had a 15-fold increase in AQP3 mRNA transcripts compared to uninfected HepG2 cells (**p = 0.001, unpaired Student’s t-test; n = 3 independent experiments). Error bars represent SEM.