Fig. 2. Degradation of the neutral lipid pool associated with P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes and its release into the culture medium during the later stages of intraerythrocytic cycle. Pulse-chase experiment using tightly synchronized cultures of Honduras-1 was performed. (A) TLC of extracted neutral lipids associated with cells and released into medium. The positions corresponding to the authentic cold lipid species are indicated: CE, cholesteryl ester; DAG, diacylglycerol; FFA, free fatty acid; TAG, triacylglycerol. (B) Kinetics of TAG degradation and the release of FFA into the culture medium. At different times, the distributions of lipid-associated radioactivity in cells (filled symbols) and medium (open symbols) are shown. Values are the total radioactivity of each lipid either from the cell or from the medium of 5 ml 3% hematocrit culture. Symbols: FFA, triangle; TAG, circle. On top is shown the dominant parasite morphology at different sampling times. A representative result is shown from two independent experiments displaying similar profiles.