The Trypanosoma cruzi Protease Cruzain Mediates Immune Evasion
Figure 2
IEM confirms lack of surface-associated cruzain.
A cruzain-specific gold-labeled secondary antibody identified cruzain on the cell surface of intracellular wild type and cruzain-deficient T. cruzi amastigotes. A 3-fold (p<0.1) reduction in gold-labeled Ab detection of cruzain was present on the cell surface and flagellar pocket of cruzain-deficient CA-I/KR (B) versus wild type amastigotes (A) (45,000X). Results are representative of three independent experiments. N, nucleus; K, kinetoplast; FP, flagellar pocket; C, cytoplasm of BESM cell.