HUVEC Response to Malaria Sera Exposure

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (PromoCell, Heidelberg, Germany) were grown in 25 cm² flasks, coated by 1% gelatin solution according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The fourth to sixth passages were used for the experiments. Co-culture of HUVECs with malaria sera was performed based on previous study with minor modifications [14 (link)]. ECs were grown on an 8-well cell culture slide (SPL Life Sciences Co., Ltd., Gyeonggi-do, Korea) until confluence. When cells reach > 90% confluence, complete EC media was removed and replaced with new serum-free media containing malaria sera (10%) from P. vivax, uncomplicated P. falciparum and complicated P. falciparum. Control groups included incubation of HUVECs with serum-free media alone and serum-free media mixed with non-malaria patient sera (10%). Incubation periods were at specific times (T) of 0, 30, 60 and 90 min.