Figure 8.
Effects of DIFs on the infection and growth of Trypanosoma cruzi in HT1080 cells. Trypanosoma cruzi (A: 1 × 105 cells/well, B: 5 × 106 cells/well) were incubated at 37 °C for 3 days in vitro with human fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells (host cells) in the presence of 0.1% EtOH (vehicle: Control) or 10 µM of one of the DIF derivatives. Then, the infection rate (parasite-infected HT1080 cells/total HT1080 cells) (A,B) and the number of amastigotes (intracellular form of T. cruzi) in the HT1080 cells (B) were assessed microscopically [94]. The means and SD (bars) of three independent experiments are shown (adapted from Nakajima-Shimada et al. [94]). * p < 0.05 versus Control (by t-test; two-tailed, unpaired). DIF-3 and some of its derivatives strongly suppressed T. cruzi infection and growth in the host cells.