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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Nov 13.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Host Microbe. 2008 Nov 13;4(5):458–469. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2008.10.003

Fig. 5. Electron microscopic analysis of damage to the parasitophorous vacuole in IFNγ/LPS activated control macrophages.

Fig. 5

Clearance of T. gondii infection by control macrophages treated with IFNγ/LPS is associated with a process of vacuolar membrane damage including vesiculation and blebbing 5 hours after infection. Findings here were specific for control macrophages and were not observed in Atg5-deficient macrophages.

(A) Heavily damaged parasite within the cytosol following dissolution of the parasitophorous vacuole membrane. The parasite plasma membrane shows evidence of damage. Scale bar = 0.5 micrometers.

(B–E) Examples of double-membrane bound compartments forming in the vicinity of the degraded parasite. Scale bars = 0.1 micrometer.

(F) Parasite residing within a parasitophorous vacuole that is undergoing extensive membrane blebbing and vesiculation. A prominent cluster of membrane vesicles and flattened cisternae are found at the posterior end (arrows). Scale bar = 0.5 micrometers.

(G–H) Enlarged views of the membrane vesicles showing flattened cisternae (arrows). Scale bars = 0.1 micrometer.