Entamoeba histolytica, another water-borne pathogen, can cause diarrhoea or a more serious invasive liver abscess. When in contact with human cells, these amebae are cytotoxic. There is a rapid influx of calcium into the contacted cell, it quickly stops all membrane movement save for some surface blebbing. Internal organization is disrupted, organelles lyse, and the cell dies. The amoeba may eat the dead cell or just absorb nutrients released from the cell.
© James A. Sullivan, Cells Alive!