Fig 1. A platform to study the interactions between T. vaginalis trophozoites and human epithelial cells.

A semi-quantitative binding assay in conjunction with real-time imaging and scanning microscopy (SEM) were applied to study the interactions between T. vaginalis and human urogenital tract epithelial cells. For the binding assay or real-time microscopy, trophozoites were labeled with CFSE or Hoechst 33342, respectively, while non-labeled trophozoites were explored for SEM. At defined intervals, unbound trophozoites were removed and the adherent trophozoites were fixed for microscopic examination.