Fig. 6

ATP synthases subunit-related proteins are associated with MTZ-resistance. The effects of MTZ (20 μM) on the growth of MTZ-S (a) and MTZ-R (b) parasites pretreated with different concentrations of oligomycin (1, 5 or 10 μM) were monitored. The effects of oligomycin (10 μM) on the growth of parasites were also monitored. Additionally, the effects of MTZ (20 μM) on the growth of MTZ-S (c) and MTZ-R (d) parasites pretreated with different concentrations of another ATP synthase inhibitor bafilomycin A1 (BafA1) (100 and 500 nM) were monitored. The effects of BafA1 (500 nM) on the growth of parasites were also monitored. Treatment with DMSO in combination with MTZ (20 μM) was served as the control to observe the effect of MTZ on the MTZ-S and MTZ-R parasites. The cell density was monitored every 4 h by trypan blue exclusion assay. The growth curves were presented as mean ± SD of three independent experiments. The statistical significances represent the effects of oligomycin and BafA1 on MTZ-treated parasites compared with the MTZ-treated control. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001