Basic Parasite Kits

Cat. No.	VMI-1001
	Basic Parasite Starter Nucleofector Kit
Optimized Protocol	Download (PDF, 119 KB)

Cat. No.	VMI-1011
	Basic Parasite Nucleofector Kit 1
Optimized Protocol	Download (PDF, 185 KB)

Cat. No.	VMI-1021
	Basic Parasite Nucleofector Kit 2
Optimized Protocol	Download (PDF, 185 KB)

Parasitic protozoa infect vertebrates and invertebrates and some are even parasitic in plants. In humans they can cause severe diseases such as Malaria (Plasmodium), Sleeping Sickness (Trypanosoma) or Leishmaniasis (Leishmania).
Nucleofection has proven to provide strongly increased transfection efficiencies (e.g. in Plasmodium berghei and Trypanosoma brucei) compared to standard methods such as electroporation or particle bombardment. Due to significant genotypic and phenotypic diversity between species and life cycles amaxa has developed two Basic Parasite Nucleofector Kits (1 and 2) and an easy-to-use Basic Parasite Nucleofector Starter Kit.

Fast determination of ideal Nucleofection conditions
Increased transfection efficiencies (up to 1000 times higher than conventional electroporation)
Proven performance (successfully used for Plasmodium berghei, Plasmodium yoelii, Trypanosoma brucei, Toxoplasma gondii, Eimeria tenella, Babesia bovis, Leishmania and Perkinsus marinus)
Analysis of transient or stable transfections possible

Nucleofection of bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei.
Bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei were transfected with a reporter vector encoding T. brucei histone 2B (H2B) fused to green fluorescent protein (pG-H2B-GFPDLII) using Nucleofection. After selection using G418 stable clones were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. All cells of clonal cultures show green fluorescent nuclei. A: phase contrast, B: GFP, C: DAPI, D: overlay of images

Data kindly provided by Gabriela Burkard and Isabel Roditi, Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Switzerland.

Nucleofection of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei.
A. Plasmodium berghei parasites were transfected with a reporter vector containing two genes encoding for Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and Red Fluorescent Protein (RFP) under control of sex-specific promoters. After selection of transgenic parasites, sexual cells (gametocytes) of these parasites were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. Male cells showed green and female cells a red fluorescence.
B. Plasmodium berghei parasites were transfected with a vector containing a gene encoding for the luciferase reporter protein. After selection of transgenic parasites, these parasites were used to infect a mouse. Distribution of the transgenic parasites was visualized by measuring luciferase activity in live animals 22h after infection. Parasites were detected in blood capillaries of the lung, spleen and adipose tissue.

Data kindly provided by Chris Janse, Blandine Franke-Fayard and Andrew Waters, Leiden Malaria Research Group, Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Netherlands.

Components of Basic Parasite Starter Nucleofector Kit

Cat. No. VMI-1001, 10 Reactions

10		Plastic pipettes
10		Certified cuvettes
2x0.1	ml	Supplement
0.45	ml	Basic Parasite Nucleofector Solution 1
0.45	ml	Basic Parasite Nucleofector Solution 2

Components of Basic Parasite Nucleofector Kit 1

Cat. No. VMI-1011, 25 Reactions

25		Plastic pipettes
25		Certified cuvettes
0.5	ml	Supplement
2.25	ml	Basic Parasite Nucleofector Solution 1

Components of Basic Parasite Nucleofector Kit 2

Cat. No. VMI-1021, 25 Reactions

25		Plastic pipettes
25		Certified cuvettes
0.5	ml	Supplement
2.25	ml	Basic Parasite Nucleofector Solution 2