Pneumocystis jirovecii can be productively cultured in differentiated CuFi-8 airway cells.

ABSTRACT:

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Although Pneumocystis jirovecii is a well-known and serious pathogen, all previous attempts to isolate, cultivate, and propagate this fungus have failed. This serious challenge in microbiology was addressed in the present study. We examined whether P. jirovecii could be cultured in a permanent three-dimensional air-liquid interface culture system formed by CuFi-8 cells, a differentiated pseudostratified airway epithelial cell line. Cultured pseudostratified cells were inoculated with bronchoalveolar fluid that had been confirmed to be positive for P. jirovecii using PCR. Five days later, the cells and basal medium were harvested and tested for P. jirovecii using quantitative PCR (qPCR), commercially available immunofluorescence detection assays, and Grocott staining of f

SUBMITTER: Schildgen V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4030487 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature