Fig. 4: Caecaloid—T. muris in vitro model reveals intricate path of multi-intracellular tunnels burrowed by whipworm L1 larvae.
From: Defining the early stages of intestinal colonisation by whipworms
Scanning and transmission EM images from caecaloids infected with T. muris for 24 h, showing whipworm L1 larvae a invading mucus layers and b within the cytoplasm of host cells. Blue lines show the cellular membranes of the host cells. c Complete z-stack projection and selected and cropped volume of confocal IF images of syncytial tunnels (white arrowheads) in caecaloids infected with L1 whipworm larvae for 24 h. In red, (I) Dclk-1, marker of tuft cells; (II) ZO-1 protein, binding tight junctions; in green, the lectins UEA and SNA bind mucins in goblet cells; in blue and aqua, DAPI stains nuclei of IECs and larvae, respectively; and in white, phalloidin binds to F-actin. Scale bars for (I) 50 μm, and (II) 20 μm. Imaging experiments on T. muris-infected caecaloids were performed in triplicate across more than ten independent replicates using three caecaloid lines derived from three C57BL/6 mice.
