title: Trypanosoma cruzi isolated from a triatomine found in one of the biggest metropolitan areas of Latin America.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To characterize Trypanosoma cruzi (TcI) isolated from a Panstrongylus megistus specimen found in one of the biggest metropolitan areas of Latin America, the relationship between the TcI group of T. cruzi and the transmission cycle in the urban environment was studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  The T. cruzi strain, Pm, was isolated in a culture medium from the evolutionary forms present in the hindgut of a live male specimen of P. megistus found in the Jabaquara subway in São Paulo City. The sample from the triatomine showed trypomastigote forms of Trypanosomatidae, which were inoculated in the peritoneum of Balb/c mice. The sample was then inoculated in Liver Infusion Tryptose medium and J774 cells for the molecular identification and characterization of the parasite. The Pm strain of T. cruzi was identified by isolation in axenic culture medium, and based on the morphology, cell infection, growth kinetics, and molecular characterization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After isolation, the protozoan was identified as T. cruzi. No parasites were detected in the peripheral blood of the animal, which can be a characteristic inherent to the strain of T. cruzi that was isolated. Cell invasion assays were performed in triplicate in the J774 cell line to confirm the invasive ability of the Pm strain and revealed amastigote forms of the parasite within macrophages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our biological and molecular characterizations helped understand parasite-host interactions and their evolutionary history in context of the associations between vectors, ecotopes, hosts, and groups of the parasite.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Aline Rimoldi
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosane Correa de
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ceretti Junior
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Larissa Aguiar de
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana Damieli
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marta Maria Geraldes
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Aristeu da
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rosa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010203:Panstrongylus / Q000469:parasitology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014505:Urban Population