Simple Focus Assay for Encephalitozoon Cuniculi

Encephalitozoon cuniculi Infection in Rabbits

intracellular parasite in the phylum Microspora, which is defined by its resistant spore stage. Microsporidia receive little attention in veterinary medical curricula because they are considered important only as parasites of rabbits and fish. Microsporidia are important parasites of humans as well, with some species causing severe disease and death in immunocompromised individuals. Microsporid...

A new vesicular compartment in Encephalitozoon cuniculi.

The microsporidia are emerging human and veterinary pathogens known to infect every tissue type and organ system. Their infectious spore possesses a number of peculiar organelles, including the diagnostic polar tube. In a proteomics-driven effort to find novel components of this organelle in the human-pathogenic species Encephalitozoon cuniculi, we unexpectedly discovered a protein which locali...

Immune Response Against Encephalitozoon cuniculi Infection

Interactions of Encephalitozoon cuniculi polar tube proteins.

Microsporidia are eukaryotic, obligate intracellular organisms defined by small spores that contain a single invasion organelle, the polar tube, which coils around the interior of the spore. When these parasites infect host cells, the polar tube is discharged from the anterior pole of the spore, pierces the cell, and transfers sporoplasm into the cytoplasm of the host. Three polar tube proteins...

Monoclonal antibodies for specific detection of Encephalitozoon cuniculi.

Seven species-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were produced against Encephalitozoon cuniculi and characterized. The MAbs were immunoglobulin G, and when used for indirect microimmunofluorescence microscopy and Western immunoblot assays, they detected E. cuniculi originating from clinical samples. They did not cross-react with other Encephalitozoon species (E. intestinalis and E. hellem) o...