Cryopreservation of Toxoplasma gondii in infected murine tissues

Laboratory maintenance of the RH strain of Toxoplasma gondii is generally done by passage in mice, in vitro propagation in fibroblasts, or cryopreservation of peritoneal exudates from mice infected with T. gondii. To explore alternative techniques for preserving laboratory T. gondii tachyzoites, we propose a new method of freezing tissues from infected mice. The effect of storage of T. gondii tissue tachyzoites in two different cryoprotectant combinations and at two different temperatures was studied. The liver and spleen tissues, and peritoneal exudates from mice infected with RH-GFP strain of T. gondii, suspended in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 12 % glycerol plus 20 % calf serum, or 12 % dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) plus 20 % calf serum, were stored for 3 months at -20 °C in an ordinary refrigerator or at -80 °C in a deep freezer, respectively. The viability of tissue T. gondii tachyzoites was determined by animal inoculation method, which was assessed by monitoring survival and tissue parasitemia in recipient mice. Our data showed that toxoplasma tachyzoites in the above tissues remained viable after cryopreservation in 12 % DMSO plus 20 % calf serum at -80 °C, the infectivity of tachyzoites from the tissues and peritoneal fluids was demonstrated in inoculated murine tissues. Our data indicate that freezing infected murine tissues at -80 °C provides a simple and appropriate method for preservation of T. gondii tachyzoites in laboratory without the need for costly liquid nitrogen preservation procedures.