Besnoitia besnoiti tachyzoite replication in bovine primary endothelial cells relies on host Niemann–Pick type C protein 1 for cholesterol acquisition

is a cyst-forming apicomplexan parasite and the causal agent of bovine besnoitiosis. During early phase of infection, tachyzoites replicate within host endothelial cells in a host cell cholesterol-dependent process. By applying U18666A treatments, we here evaluated the role of Niemann-Pick type C protein 1 (NPC1) in both, intracellular