First continuous in vitro culture of Plasmodium coatneyi reveals insights into barriers to human infection

Rossarin Suwanarusk; Adeline C Y Chua; Chukwuma S Ezenwanne; Georges Snounou; Benoît Malleret; Varakorn Kosaisavee; Eric D Lombardini; Rawiwan Imerbsin; Piyanate Sunyakumthorn; Yuko Katakai; Miako Sakaguchi; Dennis E Kyle; Satoru Kawai; Takeshi Annoura; Laurent Rénia; Pablo Bifani; Osamu Kaneko; Bruce Russell

doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104892

First continuous in vitro culture of Plasmodium coatneyi reveals insights into barriers to human infection

Rossarin Suwanarusk, Adeline C Y Chua, Chukwuma S Ezenwanne, Georges Snounou, Benoît Malleret, Varakorn Kosaisavee, Eric D Lombardini, Rawiwan Imerbsin, Piyanate Sunyakumthorn, Yuko Katakai, …

International journal for parasitology, Vol.56(8), 104892

27/05/2026

: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104892

https://hdl.handle.net/10523/51178

Erythrocyte invasion

Flow cytometry

In vitro culture

Plasmodiumcoatneyi

Zoonotic malaria

Host specificity

Plasmodium coatneyi is an important model for severe malaria due to its P. falciparum-like sequestration, yet research has been limited by the lack of in vitro culture systems. Recently, molecular evidence of human P. coatneyi infections (3.5%, 3/85 of identified simian malarias in Malaysian archival samples), suggested a zoonotic potential. We report the first continuous in vitro culture of P. coatneyi and characterize its zoonotic potential using a dual-colour flow cytometry assay. Using CellTracker Deep Red-labelled target cells, we quantified invasion across primate species, revealing potential sample-specific plasticity. Robust continuous culture was established in Macaca fascicularis erythrocytes for over 40 days, with parasitaemia reaching 3% following cryopreservation recovery. While P. coatneyi successfully invaded human erythrocytes, asexual development was arrested post-invasion, with parasitaemia falling below detection limits by day 9. Analysis by microscopy confirmed a failure to complete the 48-hour developmental cycle in human cells, identifying a putative biological barrier to sustained zoonotic transmission. Ultimately, the cultivation protocol provides a sustainable in vitro platform for functional investigations, particularly severe malaria pathogenesis, and for monitoring host promiscuity in zoonotic malaria parasites.

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104892

Published (Version of record)

: 9926870148001891
: First continuous in vitro culture of Plasmodium coatneyi reveals insights into barriers to human infection
: Rossarin Suwanarusk
Adeline C Y Chua
Chukwuma S Ezenwanne
Georges Snounou
Benoît Malleret
Varakorn Kosaisavee
Eric D Lombardini
Rawiwan Imerbsin
Piyanate Sunyakumthorn
Yuko Katakai
Miako Sakaguchi
Dennis E Kyle
Satoru Kawai
Takeshi Annoura
Laurent Rénia
Pablo Bifani
Osamu Kaneko
Bruce Russell
: Microbiology and Immunology; Centre for International Health
: International journal for parasitology, Vol.56(8), 104892
: Elsevier
: 27/05/2026
: Refer to article for funding information
: Copyright © The Author(s) 2026. This work was first published in International Journal for Parasitology (Elsevier). This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided that the original work is properly attributed to the creator(s) and the source, a link to the Creative Commons license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.
: English
: Journal article