Novel Approaches Reveal that Toxoplasma gondii Bradyzoites within Tissue Cysts Are Dynamic and Replicating Entities In Vivo.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Despite their critical role in chronic toxoplasmosis, the biology of Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoites is poorly understood. In an attempt to address this gap, we optimized approaches to purify tissue cysts and analyzed the replicative potential of bradyzoites within these cysts. In order to quantify individual bradyzoites within tissue cysts, we have developed imaging software, BradyCount 1.0, that allows the rapid establishment of bradyzoite burdens within imaged optical sections of purified tissue cysts. While in general larger tissue cysts contain more bradyzoites, their relative "occupancy" was typically lower than that of smaller cysts, resulting in a lower packing density. The packing density permits a direct measure of how bradyzoites develop within cysts, allowing f

SUBMITTER: Watts E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4600105 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature