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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Feb 16.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019 Aug 23;17(10):607–620. doi: 10.1038/s41579-019-0238-x

Figure 3. Dormant amastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi.

Figure 3.

Following invasion of host cells, T. cruzi trypomastigotes (shown in blue; indicating no or minimal proliferation) differentiate into non-replicating amastigotes. The presence or absence of dormant parasites determines treatment outcomes. Amastigotes may not replicate (bottom panel; blue amastigotes, dormant parasites), undergo minimal replication (top and middle panels, red amastigotes) before becoming dormant, or actively replicate (top, second round of invasion, red amastigotes). Replicating parasites are eliminated by drug treatment and under appropriate conditions (for example, long-treatment period), possibly resulting in sterile cure (top panel). However, parasites that are dormant during the time of drug exposure (middle and bottom, blue amastigotes) resist drug clearance and can revive the infection by resuming replication after drug treatment (bottom panel).