All pathogenic Leishmania species reside and replicate inside macrophages of their vertebrate hosts. Here, we present a protocol to infect murine bone marrow-derived macrophages in culture with Leishmania, followed by precise quantification of intracellular growth kinetics. This method is useful for studying individual factors influencing host-pathogen interaction and Leishmania virulence.
Sarkar, A., Khan, Y. A., Laranjeira-Silva, M. F., Andrews, N. W., Mittra, B. Quantification of Intracellular Growth Inside Macrophages is a Fast and Reliable Method for Assessing the Virulence of Leishmania Parasites. J. Vis. Exp. (133), e57486, doi:10.3791/57486 (2018).