Figure 1.

The asexual life cycle of Plasmodium parasite begins when an infected mosquito injects highly motile sporozoites into the skin of the host. The sporozorites enters the bloodstream and migrates to the liver, where it traverses multiple hepatocytes before infecting one. Inside the hepatocyte the sporozoite undergoes pre-erythrocytic schizogony forming merozoites that accumulate and bud off the hepatocyte in structures called merosomes. Merosomes enter the bloodstream and release merozoites which invade RBC, initiating the erythrocytic stage of asexual development. At this stage the parasite develops inside the RBC in distinct forms namely the ring, trophozoite, and schizont form. The schizont, lyses releasing merozoites into the blood stream which reinvade RBCs starting a fresh round of asexual development. After rounds of erythrocytic schizogony some of the asexual parasites develop into gametocytes and are taken up by a mosquito during a blood meal. Dendritic cells can interact with sporozoites in the dermis (A), the liver (B) and the blood and spleen (C). The DCs at each site encounter the parasite in its different forms (Figure was created using BioRender).