Actin, RhoA, and Rab11 Participation during Encystment in Entamoeba invadens
Figure 5
Physical association of actin with intracytoplasmic vacuoles. (a) F-actin is present in filopodia and adhesion plaques in the trophozoite; at 12 h, F-actin is surrounding structures with vacuolar appearance (arrows); at 24 and 48 h, F-actin was concentrated in a region of the amoeba (arrows); at 72 h, F-actin is located in structures with vesicular appearance (arrows); at 96 h, F-actin localized in the periphery of the cyst (arrows). F-actin was detected by Rhodamine-phalloidin (1 : 50) by confocal microscopy. Images are representative of two independent experiments. (b) Ultrastructure of the encystment process. The elimination of vacuoles, surrounded by a cytoplasm rich in thin filaments (arrows), characteristic appearance of high actin content, was observed at early times after induction of encystment (12 h). Samples were processed as described in Section 2.
