In cellulo and in vivo assays for compound testing cruzi

Here, we describe a combined in cellulo and in vivo approach to identify com-pounds with higher potential for efficient inhibition of Trypanosoma cruzi. Phase I of in cellulo assays is designed to exclude inactive or toxic compounds, while phase II is designed for accurate IC50, CC50, and selective index (SI) determina-tion. Compounds showing high SI are tested using in vivo infection models in par-allel with benznidazole to assess their efficacy relative to a reference drug used for Chagas disease treatment. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Marek et al. (2021).1

Automated summary

We present a combined in cellulo and in vivo approach to identify compounds with high potential for inhibiting Trypanosoma cruzi. The in cellulo assays consist of two phases - one for excluding inactive or toxic compounds and the other for determining IC50, CC50, and selective index (SI). Compounds with high SI are further tested in in vivo infection models to evaluate their efficacy compared to benznidazole, a reference drug for Chagas disease treatment. For more details, refer to Marek et al. (2021).