Figure 2

Inhibition of VEGFR-2 but not VEGFR-1 or VEGF reduces parasitaemia in cultures of Plasmodium falciparum . Unspecific inhibition of tyrosine kinases also reduces parasitaemia in cultures. Growth curves of cultures of human blood cells infected with P. falciparum, in the presence of bevacizumab (A), SU5416 (B), anti-VEGFR-1 (C), or genistein (D) in increasing concentrations. Controls contain only PBS or DMSO respectively. Inhibition of VEGF by bevacizumab (A) did not affect parasitaemia, whereas inhibition of VEGFR-2 by SU5416 (B) resulted in a significantly reduced parasitaemia in a dose-dependent manner compared to DMSO controls. Inhibition of VEGFR-1 by anti-VEGFR-1 (C) did not replicate this effect and had no effect on parasitaemia. Addition of the unspecific tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein (D) resulted in a significant reduction in parasitaemia compared to DMSO.