Figure 7.

Influence of calcium on ETR-driven pathways of parasite uptake by HSMCs. (A) HSMCs were pre-incubated (or not) at 37°C with 0.5 µM of thapsigargin for 30 min or (B) with 100 µM of verapamil (or not) for 4 h in DMEM-FCS (10%). After removal of the drugs, the monolayers of HSMCs were washed and incubated with TCTs (ratio 1:10) for 1 h in DMEM-HSA. Where indicated, the medium contained BQ-788 or BQ-123. The infected monolayers were washed in HBSS, and then fixed and stained as previously described. The infection index represents the intracellular parasites per 100 cells (in triplicates) (mean ± SD). The results are representative of two independent experiments. *P < 0.05.