Interaction force profiles between Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and silica surfaces

The interaction force profile between single Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and silica particles was measured in aqueous solutions using an atomic force microscope. The oocysts were immobilized during the measurements by entrapment in Millipore polycarbonate membranes with a 3 microm pore size. Experiments were performed in both NaCl and CaCl2 solutions at ionic strengths ranging from 1 to 100 mM. For both electrolytes the decay length of the repulsive force profile, obtained via the slope of a plot of the logarithm of interaction force versus separation, was found to be essentially independent of the ionic strength and always much larger than the theoretical Debye length of the system. In addition, the magnitude of the force was found to be essentially the same for both electrolytes, suggesting that the long-range repulsive forces are primarily steric in nature. Fitting the force to an expression for the steric repulsive force between two grafted brush layers yields a layer thickness of approximately 115 nm. These results support the idea that the oocysts are covered by a relatively thick layer of uncharged (or weakly charged) carbohydrates, possibly mixed with a thinner layer of charged protein.