The use of nocodazole in cell cycle analysis and parasite purification from Theileria parva-infected B cells

Theileria parasites transform bovine leukocytes and induce uncontrolled lymphoproliferation only in the macroschizont stage of their life cycle. The isolation of highly purified stage-specific parasite RNA and proteins is an essential prerequisite when studying the Theileria-host relationship. We therefore improved a protocol based on the cytolytic bacterial toxin aerolysin by taking advantage of the microtubule inhibitor nocodazole. In this report we describe that nocodazole-mediated separation of the parasite from the host cell microtubule network was used with success to improve quantity and quality of purified parasites. We furthermore show that nocodazole is a useful tool to study cell cycle checkpoints due to its capacity to induce reversible cell cycle arrest in Theileria-infected B cells.