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Title: AN IMPROVED ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC TECHNIQUE FOR THE IMMUNOLABELING OF CRYPTOSPORIDIUM PARVUM OOCYSTS

Author
item JENKINS, MARK - 1265-40-00
item Murphy, Charles - Charlie
item Trout, James
item Fayer, Ronald

Submitted to: Journal of Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/30/2005
Publication Date: 4/1/2006
Citation: Jenkins, M., Murphy, C.A., Trout, J.M., Fayer, R. 2006. An improved electron microscopic technique for the immunolabeling of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts. Journal of Parasitology. 92:403-405.

Interpretive Summary: Cryptosporidiosis is an intestinal disease of humans and animals caused by the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum. The disease is prevalent in young calves, which suffer weight loss associated with diarrhea and inappetance. There are no approved drugs or disinfectants available to treat infected individuals or destroy the parasite. The recent completion of the DNA sequencing of the genome of C. parvum has opened numerous possibilities for designing vaccine targets against the parasite. Intrinsic to vaccine development is identifying where in the parasite a specific protein is located. The present study describes a significant advance in the electron microscopic study of C. parvum and may be applicable to other protozoa that contain an oocyst or cyst stage in their life cycle

Technical Abstract: A technique was developed for immunolabeling Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts for subsequent observation by transmission electron microscropy (TEM). This method was developed to maintain architectural integrity of the oocyst wall and improve fixation of internal contents. The improved fixation and embedding method permits efficient immunolabeling of both non-exysted and excysted C. parvum oocysts, and may be applicable to other oocyst- and cyst-forming protozoa