Toxoplasma gondii Dysregulates Barrier Function and Mechanotransduction Signaling in Human Endothelial Cells.

can infect and replicate in vascular endothelial cells prior to entering host tissues. However, little is known about the molecular interactions at the parasite-endothelial cell interface. We demonstrate that infection of primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) altered cell morphology and dysregulated barrier function, increasing permeability to low-molecular-weight polymers.