Fig. 1.

T. vaginalis release microvesicle-like structures. a, b Representative micrographs of MVs protruding from the plasma membrane of the parasites under growth conditions obtained by SEM. c Quantification of the percentage of parasites that contain vesicles in the cell surface upon treatment with CaCl₂, and control conditions. Three independent experiments in duplicate were performed and 500 parasites were randomly counted per sample. Data are expressed as percentage of parasites with vesicles in CaCl₂ treated related to untreated control parasites ± the standard deviation (SD). Unpaired Student’s t test was performed. *p < 0.05. d Representative micrograph of a MV protruding from the plasma membrane of a parasite observed by TEM. e Representative micrograph of MVs shedding from the flagella of the parasite observed using SEM. f Representative micrograph of MVs shedding from the flagella of the parasite observed using TEM. PM: plasma membrane; F: flagella. Arrows indicate MVs