Fig. 3.

Analysis of the effects of test compounds on the growth of Cryptosporidium parvum in human ileocecal adenocarcinoma (HCT-8) cells in vitro. Equal amounts of freshly excysted sporozoites of C. parvum were inoculated into HCT-8 cells in culture and compounds at 11 μM final concentration were added immediately after infection. Control infected cells were treated with volumes of DMSO equivalent to those used in the compound-treated cultures. Paromomycin (PMO) reconstituted in distilled sterile water was added to a separate set of wells as a positive control at 400 μM final concentration. The cultures were analyzed for parasite infectivity and proliferation by an immunofluorescence assay after 72 h of incubation. The fluorescence generated by intracellular C. parvum parasites was quantified by Image J software and used to calculate the mean percent parasite inhibition values of each compound. The point numerals in the image depict the last two digits of the JS-2- compound series. The data shown represents means of three independent experiments. Bars represent standard errors of the mean.