Caspase-11 Modulates Inflammation and Attenuates Toxoplasma gondii Pathogenesis

Figure 7

Toxoplasma gondii infection resulted in a greater brain tissue cyst burden in Casp11^−/− mice during the chronic phase of disease. Wild type, Casp11^−/−, and Asc^−/− mice were infected with 1,000 Toxoplasma gondii Me49 tachyzoites via i.p. administration and brain tissue cyst formation was evaluated by histopathology 25 days after inoculation in surviving mice. (a) Histopathology assessments of H&E stained sections revealed tissue cyst formation in the brains from all genotypes infected with T. gondii. 20x magnification, 40x insert. (b) The presence of tissue cysts with the brain was assessed for each animal and the percent of animals with tissue cysts was determined. (c) High magnification image of a brain tissue cyst from a Casp11^−/− mouse. 100x magnification. ; . For all mock treated animals, . For all T. gondii inoculated animals, . Data shown are representative of 2 independent studies.

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