Fig 3. Effect of autophagy modulators on T. cruzi autophagy.

Y strain T. cruzi epimastigotes were incubated in control medium in the absence or the presence of 50 ng/μl rapamycin (Rap) at 28°C or in TAU medium in the absence or the presence of 100 nM wortmannin (Wort) at 37°C for 2 h. After these treatments, parasites were processed to detect autophagosomes through the presence of TcAtg8.1 (A), MDC staining showing the presence of acidic autophagosomes (B), DQ-BSA staining depicting degradative compartments by confocal microscopy (C) (see details in Methods). The percentage of parasites labeled with these markers under each condition was quantified. Number of counted cells: 100. Data shown represent the mean +/- SE from 3 independent experiments. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (Tukey’s test).