FIG 7.

Expression of HA₃-LmPRL-1 increases the infectivity and survival of L. major during macrophage infection. (A) Numbers of parasites per 100 cells of a culture. BMM were infected with L. major promastigotes (control parasites or parasites expressing HA₃-LmPRL-1) at an MOI of 5. Extracellular parasites were washed away with PBS (2×) after 16 h. At the indicated time points, Diff-Quik staining was performed, and the number of amastigotes per 100 cells was determined (a total of 300 cells/sample). (B) Numbers of parasites per infected macrophage. The number of amastigotes per infected cell was determined as described for panel A. (C) Quantification of the percentage of cells infected. The number of BMM containing one or more parasites was calculated as described for panel A. (D) Quantification of macrophage viability. The number of BMM per microscopic field was calculated as described for panel A. Control parasites are depicted in white, and HA₃-LmPRL-1 in dark gray. The data represent means and standard errors of the mean (SEM) of five experiments. Each circle represents the result of one independent experiment. *, P < 0.05.