Taenia crassiceps: chloride currents expressed in Xenopus oocytes upon injection of mRNA of cysticerci (WFU strain) isolated from mice

Injection of mRNA isolated from trophozoites of Giardia intestinalis induces expression of three types of chloride currents in Xenopus laevis oocytes

Giardia lamblia is one of the most important worldwide causes of intestinal infections, yet little is known about its cellular physiology, especially the diversity of ionic channels that this parasite expresses. In this work, we show that injection of mRNA isolated from trophozoites of Giardia, into Xenopus laevis oocytes, induces expression of three types of chloride currents (here referred to as ICl-G1, ICl-G2, and ICl-G3), which have different biophysical and pharmacological properties. ICl-G1 currents show inward rectification and voltage dependence are enhanced by hypotonicity, show a selectivity sequence of (I > Br > Cl > F), and are inhibited by NPPB, DIDS, SITS, 9AC, DPC, and Zinc. These findings suggest that ICl-G1 is the result of expression of chloride channels related to ClC2. ICl-G2 currents show outward rectification and are dependent of intracellular calcium, its selectivity sequence is (Cl > Br > I > F) and are inhibited by NPPB, DIDS, SITS, 9AC, DPC, niflumic acid, tannic acid, and benzbromarone. These findings suggest that they are produced by calcium dependent chloride channels (CaCC). The third type of currents (ICl-G3) appears only after a hypoosmotic challenge, and has similar properties to those described for ICl-swell, such as outward rectification, instant activation, and slow inactivation at large depolarizing voltages. They were blocked by NPPB, DIDS, 9AC, NIf, DCPIB, and tamoxifen. Our results indicate that Giardia intestinalis has at least three types of anion conductances.

Voltage-dependent potassium currents expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes after injection of mRNA isolated from trophozoites of Giardia lamblia (strain Portland-1)

Despite its importance as a health problem issue, almost nothing is known about the membrane physiology of Giardia lamblia and practically there exist no information so far regarding the variety and properties of ion channels that this protozoan parasite possesses. To address this subject we resorted to an indirect method, consisting in the injection of mRNA and further characterization of ion currents in Xenopus oocytes. In this work, we show that oocytes injected with mRNA isolated from cultured trophozoites of G. lamblia, strain Portland‐1 express novel potassium currents that appear over the second day after injection and show time‐ and voltage‐dependent activation followed by a slow inactivation. They start activating at −90 mV, with V_1/2 of −30 mV; its time constant of activation (at +60 mV) is 0.11 sec, whereas that of inactivation is 1.92 sec, V_1/2 = −44.6 mV. Such K currents were effectively blocked by K channel blockers TEA and 4AP, as well as Ba²⁺, quinine, quinidine, charybdotoxin, dendrotoxin‐1, capsaicin, margatoxin, and diltiazem. These results suggest that such currents are the result of expression of Giardia′s voltage‐gated K channels heterologously expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

In this work, we show that mRNA injection of Giardia´s trophozoites induces expression of novel ion currents in Xenopus leavis oocytes. The magnitude as well as the biophysical and pharmacological properties of these currents suggests that they are the result of exogenous potassium channels newly incorporated into the membrane of frog's oocytes.