FIG. 8.

Analysis of cyst distribution in the central nervous system of H3F33-infected mice. (A) C57BL/6 (black fur) and CD1 (white fur) mice were injected i.p. with d-luciferin at around day 16 postinfection and in vivo imaged. Brains from these mice were collected shortly afterwards and analyzed by BLI to investigate the correlation between in vivo and ex vivo signals (1 to 5). (B) Determination of cyst number from individual photon emission foci. H3F33 infected mice were culled at day 18 postinfection to analyze their brains by BLI. Images were acquired for 5 min after soaking the brain in a solution containing d-luciferin (300 μg/ml in PBS) (1). Portions of brain containing isolated foci of photon emission were dissected (2 and 3), spread over a microscope slide, and analyzed by fluorescence microscopy to determine the total amount of cysts. The dissected focus contained 60 cysts. (C) Transmission (1) and fluorescence (2) photomicrographs of a brain section showing the distribution of cysts expressing EGFP. (D) BLI analysis (5 min of photon collection) of dissected spinal cords from H3F33 infected mice soaked in d-luciferin (300 μg/ml in PBS) for 5 min. (E) Spinal cords displaying a BLI signal were spread on microscope slides and analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. Mature cysts were found in this tissue. The pictures show transmission and fluorescence images.