Maurer's cleft

Maurer's clefts are membranous structures seen in the red blood cell during infection with Plasmodium falciparum.

The function and contents of Maurer's clefts are not completely known; however, they appear to play a role in trafficking of Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) and other adhesins to the red blood cell surface.

[1] However, as the parasite ages Maurer's clefts expand to form single flattened cisternae, 500-nanometers wide.

[3] Maurer's clefts are thought function as sorting centers, through which parasite proteins are trafficked on their way to the red blood cell surface.

[1] A more detailed description of Maurer's clefts using electron microscopy was published by William Trager, Maria Rudzinska, and Phyllis Bradbury in 1966.

Transmission electron micrograph of red blood cell infected with P. falciparum . Maurer's clefts are marked with arrows. Scale bar is 500 nm.
Images from original description of Maurer's clefts in 1902. Images show red blood cells infected with Plasmodium falciparum stained with alkaline methylene blue.