Mosquito Stage
P. falciparum is taken up by the female Anopheles mosquito as it takes its bloodmeal from an infected human. Within the midgut human complement remains active for ~1 hour. To protect itself the parasite binds host complement regulator factor H. Specifically the gamete surface protein PfGAP50 binds to Factor H and uses the surface bound Factor H to inactivate the complement protein C3b.
How the parasite evades the mosquito's immune system is not understood. The protein Pfs47 appears to be involved in this process.
Read more about this topic: Plasmodium Falciparum Biology
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