An Historical Perspective on How Advances in Microscopic Imaging Contributed to Understanding the Leishmania Spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi Host-Parasite Relationship
Figure 4
T. cruzi metacyclic trypomastigote forms begin to differentiate into amastigote-like forms inside the parasitophorous vacuole (supplementary Video 3). HeLa cells transfected with Rab7-Red fluorescent protein (RFP) were infected with metacyclic trypomastigotes (MTs) from a CL strain transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP). Time-lapse images show the parasite internalized inside the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) labeled with Rab7-RFP (white arrow) after one hour. MTs differentiated into round-shaped forms, followed by loss of Rab-7 staining, suggesting parasite escape from the PV. Time-lapse acquisition is displayed as days : hours : minutes : seconds (dd : hh : mm : ss). Scale bar, 5 μm. Images acquired with a confocal microscope (Leica SP5 TS).
