A Pumpless and Tubeless Microfluidic Device Enables Extended In Vitro Development of Cryptosporidium parvum

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dc.contributor.authorGunasekera, S.
dc.contributor.authorThierry, B.
dc.contributor.authorCheah, E.
dc.contributor.authorKing, B.
dc.contributor.authorMonis, P.
dc.contributor.authorCarr, J.M.
dc.contributor.authorChopra, A.
dc.contributor.authorWatson, M.
dc.contributor.authorO’Dea, M.
dc.contributor.authorRyan, U.
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractBackground The enteric parasite Cryptosporidium remains a treatment challenge for drinking water utilities globally due to its resistance to chlorine disinfection. However, the lack of an in vitro culture system for Cryptosporidium that is both cost-effective and reliable remains a key bottleneck in Cryptosporidium research. Methods Here we report that the microfluidic culture of human ileocecal colorectal adenocarcinoma (HCT-8) cells under fluid shear stress enables the extended development of Cryptosporidium parvum. Specifically, the growth of C. parvum in a user-friendly pumpless microfluidic device was assessed using immunofluorescence assays, scanning electron microscopy, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction, which revealed that development continued for 10 days in total. Results Oocysts produced within the microfluidic device were infective to fresh HCT-8 monolayers; however, these oocysts were only present at low levels. Conclusions We anticipate that such microfluidic approaches will facilitate a wide range of in vitro studies on Cryptosporidium and may have the potential to be further developed as a routine infectivity assessment tool for the water industry.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilitySamantha Gunasekera, Benjamin Thierry, Edward Cheah, Brendon King, Paul Monis, Jillian M Carr, Abha Chopra, Mark Watson, Mark O'Dea, Una Ryan
dc.identifier.citationOpen Forum Infectious Diseases, 2024; 11(11):ofae625-1-ofae625-9
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/ofid/ofae625
dc.identifier.issn2328-8957
dc.identifier.issn2328-8957
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/147806
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherOxford University Press
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP170100096
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofae625
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofae625
dc.subjectCryptosporidium; fluid shear stress; gut-on-chip; HCT-8 cells; in vitro
dc.titleA Pumpless and Tubeless Microfluidic Device Enables Extended In Vitro Development of Cryptosporidium parvum
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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