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Behaviour of Toxoplasma gondii RH Ankara strain tachyzoites during continuous production in various cell lines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2005

M. DÖŞKAYA ,
A. DEGˇİRMENCİ ,
C. ÇİÇEK ,
M. AK ,
M. KORKMAZ ,
Y. GÜRÜZ  and
A. ÜNER
M. DÖŞKAYA
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical Faculty, 35100, Bornova/Izmir, Turkey
A. DEGˇİRMENCİ
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical Faculty, 35100, Bornova/Izmir, Turkey
C. ÇİÇEK
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Ege University Medical Faculty, 35100, Bornova/Izmir, Turkey
M. AK
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical Faculty, 35100, Bornova/Izmir, Turkey
M. KORKMAZ
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical Faculty, 35100, Bornova/Izmir, Turkey
Y. GÜRÜZ
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical Faculty, 35100, Bornova/Izmir, Turkey
A. ÜNER
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical Faculty, 35100, Bornova/Izmir, Turkey
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Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite. The objective of the present study was to examine the behaviour of Toxoplasma gondii RH Ankara strain tachyzoites in a cell culture environment. The study represents the first step in determining whether T. gondii RH Ankara strain tachyzoites, grown in cell culture, are of sufficient quality to allow cessation of in vivo tachyzoite production for diagnostic assays. In the present study, T. gondii RH Ankara strain tachyzoites were continuously produced in myeloma X63.Ag8.653, HeLa, Hep-2, and Vero cell cultures for 2 months. The average size of the tachyzoites was 3×5·7 μm prior to the first inoculation but after continuous production, a marked decrease was noted in average tachyzoite size. The smallest tachyzoite size, was 1×2·1 μm after 2 months, in myeloma cell cultures even though the yield of tachyzoites increased. With other cell cultures, tachyzoite yields were not as high as myeloma cell culture although decrease in size was less. The smallest decrease in tachyzoite size, averaging 2×3·8 μm after 2 months, was observed in tachyzoites produced in HeLa cell cultures. A virulence assay in small groups of BALB/c mice, using tachyzoites derived from cell cultures, was also conducted. The preliminary results of the virulence assay suggest that as the size of the tachyzoites decreased, the virulence in mice decreased. Future research will focus on the effect of the size of cell culture-derived T. gondii RH Ankara strain tachyzoites on the virulence, protein expression, and the reliability of diagnostic assays. Ultimately, the behaviour of tachyzoites from various T. gondii strains will be observed in cell culture to determine if size is altered.

Keywords

Toxoplasma gondiicell culturecontinuous productionvarious cell lines
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 132 , Issue 3 , March 2006 , pp. 315 - 319
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

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