Fig 2.

Defensin α-1 inhibits T. cruzi trypomastigote motility. Trypomastigotes were incubated with several concentrations of defensin α-1 alone or in the presence of defensin α-1 preincubated with anti-defensin α-1 IgG or preimmune IgG for 5 min. Controls included scrambled defensin α-1 control peptide or medium alone. The number of immobilized trypomastigotes was microscopically determined as described in Materials and Methods. Differences in trypomastigote motility between parasites exposed to defensin α-1 or to defensin α-1 in the presence of preimmune IgG and parasites exposed to the scrambled defensin α-1 peptide control, defensin α-1 in the presence of anti-defensin α-1 IgG, or medium alone were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Data are from three independent experiments performed in triplicate.