Skip to main content
Fig. 2 | Animal Diseases

Fig. 2

From: Current status and challenges in drug discovery against the globally important zoonotic cryptosporidiosis

Fig. 2

Illustration of drug delivery routes for systemic and non-systemic drugs to an intracellular Cryptosporidium meront that is separated from host epithelial cell cytosol by an electron-dense (ED) band, but embraced by a host cell-derived parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM) facing the intestinal lumen. Systemic drugs need to cross through the selective ED band and feeder organelle (route 1), while luminal non-systemic drugs may directly act on parasite through PVM (route 2). A regular 2D culture system is unable to evaluate systemic drug route since the basal surface of host cells is attached to a nonporous plastic surface. Credit to Lin Xia and Wenjuan Wang for illustration

Back to article page