Nurse Cell
Summary of morphology of development
Summary of nurse cell formation. Letters in time course at top correspond to images below.
Bolus of newborn larvae injected into mouse muscle. 10 min post-injection. H&E
Newborn larva entering muscle cell 10 min post-injection. H&E
Newborn larva entering muscle cell 10 min post-injection. H&E. Note stretched sarcolemma, indicating worm has not yet entered cell cytoplasm.
Newborn larva entering muscle cell. Thick section. Note damage to sarcolemma.
Newborn larva inside muscle cell. 1 hr post-injection. TEM
L1 inside developing nurse cell. da post-injection. Note vacuole around worm. Thick epon section.
L1 inside developing nurse cell. 4 da post-injection. Note lack of integration of host cell cytoplasm with larval cuticular surface. TEM
L1 inside muscle cells. 5 da post-injection. H&E
L1 in developing nurse cells. 6 da post-injection. H&E
L1 in developing nurse cell. 7 da post-injection. H&E
L1 in developing nurse cell. 8 da post-injection. Note worm has yet to coil up. Thick epon section.
L1 in developing nurse cell. 10 da post-injection. H&E
L1 in developing nurse cell. 10 da post-injection. Thick epon section.
L1 in developing nurse cell. 14 da post-injection. Note coiled worm. H&E
L1 in developing nurse cell. 15 da post-injection. Parasite now infectious for a new host. Thick epon section.
Mature nurse cell-parasite complex. Note intense inflammatory response. H&E
Mature nurse cell-parasite complex. Thick epon section.
Isolated nurse cell-parasite complex. Photomicrograph by Eric Gravé. Winner of 1976 Nikon Small World Contest.