Fig. 7: Effects of anti-viral and anti-parasitic drugs on C. parvum infection of intestinal epithelium.

a Effects of anti-viral and anti-parasitic drugs on C. parvum infection of cultured HCT-8 cells. Cells were exposed to C. parvum infection for 24 h in the presence or absence of anti-viral and anti-parasitic drugs or their combination, followed by RT-qPCR of cpHsp70. b Schematic diagram of human 3D enteroids and 2D intestinal epithelial monolayer cultures. c Brightfield microscopy images of 3D enteroids (4 days culture from isolated human crypts) and 2D monolayers derived from 3D enteroids are shown. Representative images from three independent experiments are shown. Bars = 50 µm. d Expression of type I/III IFN and type I/III IFN-stimulated genes in human 2D intestinal epithelial monolayers following infection. Human 2D intestinal epithelial monolayer cultures were exposed to C. parvum infection for 24 h. Expression levels of USP18, IFI44, OAS1, IFNB1, IFNL1, and IFNL2/3 were measured by RT-qPCR. e Effects of anti-viral and anti-parasitic drugs on C. parvum infection of human 2D intestinal epithelial monolayers. 2D monolayers were exposed to C. parvum infection for 24 h, in the presence or absence of anti-viral and anti-parasitic drugs or their combination, followed by RT-qPCR measurement of cpHsp70. f, g Effects of antiviral and antiparasitic drugs on C. parvum intestinal infection in neonates. Five-day-old C57BL/6 neonates were orally administered C. parvum oocysts; antiviral and antiparasitic drugs or their combination were given at 2 h p.i. followed by daily for 3 days. Intestinal tissues were collected and infection burden was measured by RT-qPCR of cpHsp70 (f) and immunofluorescent staining of C. parvum (g). Blue: DAPI (DNA), red: C. parvum (arrows). A higher magnification of the boxed region to visualize C. parvum is shown. Bars = 50 µm. Data represent three biological replicates (a, d, e) or 6 mice in each group (f, g) and presented as mean values ± SD. p values were determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s HSD test (in a, e, f) or by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test (in d). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.