Fig. 3.

Sterculic acid and all methyl ester analogues inhibit tachyzoite proliferation. Freshly released parasites were used to infect HFF cell monolayers. (A) Invaded parasites were allowed to replicate for 18 hr in the culture medium containing the test compounds, and the number of vacuoles containing 1, 2, 4, or 8 parasites was counted under a fluorescence microscope after anti-T. gondii staining. (B) Representative fluorescent microscopic images were presented to show that many vacuoles contained 8 tachyzoites in DMSO control groups, (C) while 4 or 2 tachyzoites were often observed in a vacuole in INT21-treated groups after culture for 18 hr. The magnified images of the areas marked with white boxes in (B) and (C) were presented at the bottom in order. Data are presented as mean±SD from 3 independent experiments each in triplicate. ^**P<0.01.