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Santos HLC, Pereira GL, do Reis RB, Rodrigues IC, Masini d'Avila C, Vidal VE. Using Acanthamoeba spp. as a cell model to evaluate Leishmania infections. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2024; 18:e0012517. [PMID: 39356724 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Revised: 10/14/2024] [Accepted: 09/06/2024] [Indexed: 10/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis represents a severe global health problem. In the last decades, there have been significant challenges in controlling this disease due to the unavailability of licensed vaccines, the high toxicity of the available drugs, and an unrestrained surge of drug-resistant parasites, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-Leishmania co-infections. Leishmania spp. preferentially invade macrophage lineage cells of vertebrates for replication after subverting cellular functions of humans and other mammals. These early events in host-parasite interactions are likely to influence the future course of the disease. Thus, there is a continuing need to discover a simple cellular model that reproduces the in vivo pathogenesis. Acanthamoeba spp. are non-mammalian phagocytic amoeba with remarkable similarity to the cellular and functional aspects of macrophages. We aimed to assess whether the similarity reported between macrophages and Acanthamoeba spp. is sufficient to reproduce the infectivity of Leishmania spp. Herein, we analyzed co-cultures of Acanthamoeba castellanii or Acanthamoeba polyphaga with Leishmania infantum, Leishmania amazonensis, Leishmania major, and Leishmania braziliensis. Light and fluorescence microscopy revealed that the flagellated promastigotes attach to the A. castellanii and/or A. polyphaga in a bipolar and or random manner, which initiates their uptake via pseudopods. Once inside the cells, the promastigotes undergo significant changes, which result in the obligatory amastigote-like intracellular form. There was a productive infection with a continuous increase in intracellular parasites. However, we frequently observed intracellular amastigotes in vacuoles, phagolysosomes, and the cytosol of Acanthamoeba spp. Our findings corroborate that Leishmania spp. infects Acanthamoeba spp. and replicates in them but does not cause their rapid degeneration or lysis. Overall, the evidence presented here confirms that Acanthamoeba spp. have all prerequisites and can help elucidate how Leishmania spp. infect mammalian cells. Future work exposing the mechanisms of these interactions should yield novel insights into how these pathogens exploit amoebae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Lúcia Carneiro Santos
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Coleção de Protozoários da FIOCRUZ, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratório de Parasitologia, Departamento de Patologia da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Gabriela Linhares Pereira
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rhagner Bonono do Reis
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Igor Cardoso Rodrigues
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Claudia Masini d'Avila
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Vitor Ennes Vidal
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Etheridge RD. Protozoan phagotrophy from predators to parasites: An overview of the enigmatic cytostome-cytopharynx complex of Trypanosoma cruzi. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2022; 69:e12896. [PMID: 35175673 PMCID: PMC11110969 DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Eating is fundamental and from this basic principle, living organisms have evolved innumerable strategies to capture energy and nutrients from their environment. As part of the world's aquatic ecosystems, the expansive family of heterotrophic protozoans uses self-generated currents to funnel prokaryotic prey into an ancient, yet highly enigmatic, oral apparatus known as the cytostome-cytopharynx complex prior to digestion. Despite its near ubiquitous presence in protozoans, little is known mechanistically about how this feeding organelle functions. Intriguingly, one class of these flagellated phagotrophic predators known as the kinetoplastids gave rise to a lineage of obligate parasitic protozoa, the trypanosomatids, that can infect a wide variety of organisms ranging from plants to humans. One parasitic species of humans, Trypanosoma cruzi, has retained this ancestral organelle much like its free-living relatives and continues to use it as its primary mode of endocytosis. In this review, we will highlight foundational observations made regarding the cytostome-cytopharynx complex and examine some of the most pressing questions regarding the mechanistic basis for its function. We propose that T. cruzi has the potential to serve as an excellent model system to dissect the enigmatic process of protozoal phagotrophy and thus enhance our overall understanding of fundamental eukaryotic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald Drew Etheridge
- Department of Cellular Biology, Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
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Gouveia ALA, Santos FAB, Alves LC, Cruz-Filho IJ, Silva PR, Jacob ITT, Soares JCS, Santos DKDN, Souza TRCL, Oliveira JF, Lima MDCA. Thiazolidine derivatives: In vitro toxicity assessment against promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania infantum and ultrastructural study. Exp Parasitol 2022; 236-237:108253. [PMID: 35381223 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2022.108253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Neglected diseases, such as Leishmaniasis, constitute a group of communicable diseases that occur mainly in tropical countries. Considered a public health problem with limited treatment. Therefore, there is a need for new therapies. In this sense, our proposal was to evaluate in vitro two series of thiazolidine compounds (7a-7e and 8a-8e) against Leishmania infantum. We performed in vitro evaluations through macrophage cytotoxicity assays (J774) and nitric oxide production, activity against promastigotes and amastigotes, as well as ultrastructural analyzes in promastigotes. In the evaluation of cytotoxicity, the thiazolidine compounds presented CC50 values between 8.52 and 126.83 μM. Regarding the evaluation against the promastigote forms, the IC50 values ranged between 0.42 and 142.43 μM. Compound 7a was the most promising, as it had the lowest IC50. The parasites treated with compound 7a showed several changes, such as cell body shrinkage, shortening and loss of the flagellum, intense mitochondrial edema and cytoplasmic vacuolization, leading the parasite to cell inviability. In assays against the amastigote forms, the compound showed a low IC50 (0.65 μM). These results indicate that compound 7a was efficient for both evolutionary forms of the parasite. In silico studies suggest that the compound has good oral bioavailability. These results show that compound 7a is a potential drug candidate for the treatment of Leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allana L A Gouveia
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Fábio A B Santos
- Aggeu Magalhães Institut. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (IAM-FIOCRUZ), 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Luiz C Alves
- Aggeu Magalhães Institut. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (IAM-FIOCRUZ), 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Iranildo José Cruz-Filho
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Paula R Silva
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Iris T T Jacob
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - José Cleberson S Soares
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Dayane K D N Santos
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Tulio Ricardo C L Souza
- Rural University of Pernambuco, Academic Unit of Belo Jardim, 55156-580, Belo Jardim, PE, Brazil
| | - Jamerson F Oliveira
- University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB), 62790-970, Redenção, CE, Brazil
| | - Maria do Carmo A Lima
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil.
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Cohen A, Azas N. Challenges and Tools for In Vitro Leishmania Exploratory Screening in the Drug Development Process: An Updated Review. Pathogens 2021; 10:1608. [PMID: 34959563 PMCID: PMC8703296 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10121608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniases are a group of vector-borne diseases caused by infection with the protozoan parasites Leishmania spp. Some of them, such as Mediterranean visceral leishmaniasis, are zoonotic diseases transmitted from vertebrate to vertebrate by a hematophagous insect, the sand fly. As there is an endemic in more than 90 countries worldwide, this complex and major health problem has different clinical forms depending on the parasite species involved, with the visceral form being the most worrying since it is fatal when left untreated. Nevertheless, currently available antileishmanial therapies are significantly limited (low efficacy, toxicity, adverse side effects, drug-resistance, length of treatment, and cost), so there is an urgent need to discover new compounds with antileishmanial activity, which are ideally inexpensive and orally administrable with few side effects and a novel mechanism of action. Therefore, various powerful approaches were recently applied in many interesting antileishmanial drug development programs. The objective of this review is to focus on the very first step in developing a potential drug and to identify the exploratory methods currently used to screen in vitro hit compounds and the challenges involved, particularly in terms of harmonizing the results of work carried out by different research teams. This review also aims to identify innovative screening tools and methods for more extensive use in the drug development process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Cohen
- IHU Méditerranée Infection, Aix Marseille University, IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), AP-HM (Assistance Publique—Hôpitaux de Marseille), SSA (Service de Santé des Armées), VITROME (Vecteurs—Infections Tropicales et Méditerranéennes), 13005 Marseille, France;
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Sutrave S, Richter MH. The Truman Show for protozoan parasites: A review of in vitro cultivation platforms. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0009668. [PMID: 34437538 PMCID: PMC8389406 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Protozoan parasites are responsible for severe disease and suffering in humans worldwide. Apart from disease transmission via insect vectors and contaminated soil, food, or water, transmission may occur congenitally or by way of blood transfusion and organ transplantation. Several recent outbreaks associated with fresh produce and potable water emphasize the need for vigilance and monitoring of protozoan parasites that cause severe disease in humans globally. Apart from the tropical parasite Plasmodium spp., other protozoa causing debilitating and fatal diseases such as Trypanosoma spp. and Naegleria fowleri need to be studied in more detail. Climate change and socioeconomic issues such as migration continue to be major drivers for the spread of these neglected tropical diseases beyond endemic zones. Due to the complex life cycles of protozoa involving multiple hosts, vectors, and stringent growth conditions, studying these parasites has been challenging. While in vivo models may provide insights into host–parasite interaction, the ethical aspects of laboratory animal use and the challenge of ready availability of parasite life stages underline the need for in vitro models as valid alternatives for culturing and maintaining protozoan parasites. To our knowledge, this review is the first of its kind to highlight available in vitro models for protozoa causing highly infectious diseases. In recent years, several research efforts using new technologies such as 3D organoid and spheroid systems for protozoan parasites have been introduced that provide valuable tools to advance complex culturing models and offer new opportunities toward the advancement of parasite in vitro studies. In vitro models aid scientists and healthcare providers in gaining insights into parasite infection biology, ultimately enabling the use of novel strategies for preventing and treating these diseases. In light of the far-reaching social and economic repercussions of communicable, zoonotic parasitic diseases on human health, it is imperative to continue to strive toward developing in vitro models for in-depth scrutiny and understanding of pathogenicity, as well as for innovations toward combating these infections. This review, to our knowledge, is the first to offer a qualitative summary of the existing models for culturing protozoan parasites with major relevance to human health in vitro. The present work aims to provide a reference guide on the current state of in vitro culture of these protozoan parasites and offers a foundation to facilitate exchange of expertise among researchers, clinicians, and healthcare workers. This comprehensive review would aid in enabling discussions on new intervention approaches to fill in the knowledge gaps in the field of parasitic diseases affecting the global population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Smita Sutrave
- German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Department of Biological Safety, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Heinrich Richter
- German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Department of Biological Safety, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail:
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