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Organotypic slice cultures from rat brain tissue: a new approach for Naegleria fowleri CNS infection in vitro

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2005

C. GIANINAZZI ,
M. SCHILD ,
N. MÜLLER ,
S. L. LEIB ,
F. SIMON ,
S. NUÑEZ ,
P. JOSS  and
B. GOTTSTEIN
C. GIANINAZZI
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Bern, Länggass-Strasse 122, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland
M. SCHILD
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Bern, Länggass-Strasse 122, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland
N. MÜLLER
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Bern, Länggass-Strasse 122, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland
S. L. LEIB
Affiliation:
Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Friedbühlstrasse 51, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
F. SIMON
Affiliation:
Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Friedbühlstrasse 51, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
S. NUÑEZ
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Bern, Länggass-Strasse 122, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland
P. JOSS
Affiliation:
Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Friedbühlstrasse 51, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
B. GOTTSTEIN
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Bern, Länggass-Strasse 122, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland
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Abstract

The free-living amoeba Naegleria fowleri is the aetiological agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a disease leading to death in the vast majority of cases. In patients suffering from PAM, and in corresponding animal models, the brain undergoes a massive inflammatory response, followed by haemorrhage and severe tissue necrosis. Both, in vivo and in vitro models are currently being used to study PAM infection. However, animal models may pose ethical issues, are dependent upon availability of specific infrastructural facilities, and are time-consuming and costly. Conversely, cell cultures lack the complex organ-specific morphology found in vivo, and thus, findings obtained in vitro do not necessarily reflect the situation in vivo. The present study reports infection of organotypic slice cultures from rat brain with N. fowleri and compares the findings in this culture system with in vivo infection in a rat model of PAM, that proved complementary to that of mice. We found that brain morphology, as present in vivo, is well retained in organotypic slice cultures, and that infection time-course including tissue damage parallels the observations in vivo in the rat. Therefore, organotypic slice cultures from rat brain offer a new in vitro approach to study N. fowleri infection in the context of PAM.

Keywords

Naegleria fowleriorganotypic slice culturesprimary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM)rat

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 132 , Issue 6 , June 2006 , pp. 797 - 804
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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