Blood donor variability is a modulatory factor for P. falciparum invasion phenotyping assays
Human erythrocytes are indispensable for Plasmodium falciparum development. Unlike other eukaryotic cells, there is no existing erythroid cell line capable of supporting long-term P. falciparum in vitro experiments. Consequently, invasion phenotyping experiments rely on erythrocytes of different individuals. However, the contribution of the erythrocytes variation in influencing invasion rates remains unknown, which represents a challenge for conducting large-scale comparative studies.