On the physico-chemical and physiological requirements of hemozoin formation promoted by perimicrovillar membranes in Rhodnius prolixus midgut

The mlpt smORF gene is essential for digestive physiology and molting during nymphal stages in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus

Chagas disease affects around 8 million people globally, with Latin America bearing approximately 10,000 deaths each year. Combatting the disease relies heavily on vector control methods, necessitating the identification of new targets. Within insect genomes, genes harboring small open reading frames (smORFs - < 100 amino acids) present numerous potential candidates. In our investigation, we elucidate the pivotal role of the archetypal smORF-containing gene, mille-pattes/polished-rice/tarsalless (mlpt/pri/tal), in the post-embryonic development of the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus. Injection of double-stranded RNA targeting mlpt (dsmlpt) during nymphal stages yields a spectrum of phenotypes hindering post-embryonic growth. Notably, fourth or fifth stage nymphs subjected to dsmlpt do not undergo molting. These dsmlpt nymphs display heightened mRNA levels of JHAMT-like and EPOX-like, enzymes putatively involved in the juvenile hormone (JH) pathway, alongside increased expression of the transcription factor Kr-h1, indicating changes in the hormonal control. Histological examination reveals structural alterations in the hindgut and external cuticle of dsmlpt nymphs compared to control (dsGFP) counterparts. Furthermore, significant changes in the vector's digestive physiology were observed, with elevated hemozoin and glucose levels in the posterior midgut of dsmlpt nymphs. Importantly, dsmlpt nymphs exhibit impaired metacyclogenesis of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, underscoring the crucial role of proper gut organization in parasite differentiation. Thus, our findings constitute the first evidence of a smORF-containing gene's regulatory influence on vector physiology, parasitic cycle, and disease transmission.

Export of heme by the feline leukemia virus C receptor regulates mitochondrial biogenesis and redox balance in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus

Heme is a prosthetic group of proteins involved in vital physiological processes. It participates, for example, in redox reactions crucial for cell metabolism due to the variable oxidation state of its central iron atom. However, excessive heme can be cytotoxic due to its prooxidant properties. Therefore, the control of intracellular heme levels ensures the survival of organisms, especially those that deal with high concentrations of heme during their lives, such as hematophagous insects. The export of heme initially attributed to the feline leukemia virus C receptor (FLVCR) has recently been called into question, following the discovery of choline uptake by the same receptor in mammals. Here, we found that RpFLVCR is a heme exporter in the midgut of the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus, a vector for Chagas disease. Silencing RpFLVCR decreased hemolymphatic heme levels and increased the levels of intracellular dicysteinyl-biliverdin, indicating heme retention inside midgut cells. FLVCR silencing led to increased expression of heme oxygenase (HO), ferritin, and mitoferrin mRNAs while downregulating the iron importers Malvolio 1 and 2. In contrast, HO gene silencing increased FLVCR and Malvolio expression and downregulated ferritin, revealing crosstalk between heme degradation/export and iron transport/storage pathways. Furthermore, RpFLVCR silencing strongly increased oxidant production and lipid peroxidation, reduced cytochrome c oxidase activity, and activated mitochondrial biogenesis, effects not observed in RpHO-silenced insects. These data support FLVCR function as a heme exporter, playing a pivotal role in heme/iron metabolism and maintenance of redox balance, especially in an organism adapted to face extremely high concentrations of heme.

The common bed bug Cimex lectularius synthesizes hemozoin as an essential defense against the toxic effects of heme

The common bed bug Cimex lectularius (Linnaeus 1758) is an ectoparasite that feeds preferably on human blood, being considered an important public health issue. Blood-feeding is a challenging process for hematophagous organisms, and one of the inherent risks with this kind of diet is the liberation of high doses of free heme after the digestion of hemoglobin. In order to deal with this potent cytotoxic agent, such organisms have acquired different defense mechanisms. Here, we use UV-visible spectrophotometry and infrared spectroscopy to show that C. lectularius crystalizes free heme to form the much less dangerous compound, hemozoin. According to our results, the peak of formation of hemozoin in the intestinal contents occurred 4-5 days after the blood meal, primarily in the posterior midgut. The quantification of the rate of conversion of heme to hemozoin revealed that at the end of digestion all the heme was in the form of hemozoin. Inhibition of the synthesis of hemozoin using the anti-malarial drug quinine led to an increase in both catalase activity in the intestinal epithelium and the mortality of the bed bugs, indicating that the insects were unable to cope with the oxidative stress generated by the overload of free heme. The data presented here show for the first time how C. lectularius deals with free heme, and how the process of formation of hemozoin is essential for the survival of these insects. Since resistance to insecticides is a common feature among field populations of bed bugs, there is an urgent need to develop alternative control methods. Thus, targeting the synthesis of hemozoin emerges as a possible novel strategy to fight bed bugs.

Anti-malarial activity of the alkaloid, heptaphylline, and the furanocoumarin, imperatorin, from Clausena anisata against human Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites: ex vivo trophozoitocidal, schizonticidal and gametocytocidal approach

BACKGROUND

The erythrocytic stage of the life cycle of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, consists of trophozoite, schizont and gametocyte stages in humans. Various anti-malarial agents target different stages of the parasite to produce treatment outcomes. This study reports on the stage-specific anti-malarial activity of heptaphylline and imperatorin against human P. falciparum in addition to their cytotoxicity and selectivity indices (SI).

METHODS

The compounds were isolated from Clausena anisata using column chromatography and their structures elucidated using NMR spectroscopy. The anti-malarial activity was determined by measuring the trophozoitocidal, schizonticidal and gametocytocidal activities of the compounds using the SYBR green assay. Cytotoxicity was evaluated using the tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay.

RESULTS

Heptaphylline and imperatorin produced trophozoitocidal, schizonticidal and gametocytocidal activities with IC50s of 1.57 (0.2317)-26.92 (0.3144) µM with those of artesunate (the standard drug) being 0.00024 (0.0036)-0.0070 (0.0013) µM. In the cytotoxicity assay, the compounds produced CC50S greater than 350 µM and SI of 13.76-235.90. Also, the trophozoitocidal and schizonticidal activities of the compounds were more pronounced than their gametocytocidal activity. Imperatorin was 42.04% more trophozoitocidal than hepthaphyline. However, hepthaphyline has more schizonticidal and gametocytocidal properties than imperatorin.

CONCLUSION

Heptaphylline and imperatorin are promising anti-malarial agents, since they possess potent anti-malarial activity with weak cytotoxicity on RBCs. However, imperatorin is a better anti-malarial prophylactic agent whereas heptaphylline is a better malaria treatment agent.

Heme crystallization in a Chagas disease vector acts as a redox-protective mechanism to allow insect reproduction and parasite infection

Heme crystallization as hemozoin represents the dominant mechanism of heme disposal in blood feeding triatomine insect vectors of the Chagas disease. The absence of drugs or vaccine for the Chagas disease causative agent, the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, makes the control of vector population the best available strategy to limit disease spread. Although heme and redox homeostasis regulation is critical for both triatomine insects and T. cruzi, the physiological relevance of hemozoin for these organisms remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that selective blockage of heme crystallization in vivo by the antimalarial drug quinidine, caused systemic heme overload and redox imbalance in distinct insect tissues, assessed by spectrophotometry and fluorescence microscopy. Quinidine treatment activated compensatory defensive heme-scavenging mechanisms to cope with excessive heme, as revealed by biochemical hemolymph analyses, and fat body gene expression. Importantly, egg production, oviposition, and total T. cruzi parasite counts in R. prolixus were significantly reduced by quinidine treatment. These effects were reverted by oral supplementation with the major insect antioxidant urate. Altogether, these data underscore the importance of heme crystallization as the main redox regulator for triatomine vectors, indicating the dual role of hemozoin as a protective mechanism to allow insect fertility, and T. cruzi life-cycle. Thus, targeting heme crystallization in insect vectors represents an innovative way for Chagas disease control, by reducing simultaneously triatomine reproduction and T. cruzi transmission.

Chagas disease is a fatal illness caused by Trypanosoma cruzi parasites, which are transmitted by blood sucking triatomine insect vectors. Although blood is a natural food source for these insects, its digestion releases toxic products, which poses a dietary challenge for both triatomine insects and trypanosomes. To overcome this, triatomines eliminate these toxic blood products by a unique process of heme crystallization into hemozoin that take place in their digestive tract. Here we describe that this detoxification process represents the major mechanism for redox balance control, and is necessary to allow triatomine insect reproduction, and Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Disruption of heme crystallization in triatomine insects thus represents a new venue for Chagas disease control, by targeting at the same time insect reproduction and parasite transmission.

Modulation of mitochondrial metabolism as a biochemical trait in blood feeding organisms: the redox vampire hypothesis redux

Hematophagous organisms undergo remarkable metabolic changes during the blood digestion process, increasing fermentative glucose metabolism, and reducing respiratory rates, both consequence of functional mitochondrial remodeling. Here, we review the pathways involved in energy metabolism and mitochondrial functionality in a comparative framework across different hematophagous species, and consider how these processes regulate redox homeostasis during blood digestion. The trend across distinct species indicate that a switch in energy metabolism might represent an important defensive mechanism to avoid the potential harmful interaction of oxidants generated from aerobic energy metabolism with products derived from blood digestion. Indeed, in insect vectors, blood feeding transiently reduces respiratory rates and oxidant production, irrespective of tissue and insect model. On the other hand, a different scenario is observed in several unrelated parasite species when exposed to blood digestion products, as respiratory rates reduce and mitochondrial oxidant production increase. The emerging picture indicates that re-wiring of energy metabolism, through reduced mitochondrial function, culminates in improved tolerance to redox insults and seems to represent a key step for hematophagous organisms to cope with the overwhelming and potentially toxic blood meal.

Ironing out the Details: Exploring the Role of Iron and Heme in Blood-Sucking Arthropods

Heme and iron are essential molecules for many physiological processes and yet have the ability to cause oxidative damage such as lipid peroxidation, protein degradation, and ultimately cell death if not controlled. Blood-sucking arthropods have evolved diverse methods to protect themselves against iron/heme-related damage, as the act of bloodfeeding itself is high risk, high reward process. Protective mechanisms in medically important arthropods include the midgut peritrophic matrix in mosquitoes, heme aggregation into the crystalline structure hemozoin in kissing bugs and hemosomes in ticks. Once heme and iron pass these protective mechanisms they are presumed to enter the midgut epithelial cells via membrane-bound transporters, though relatively few iron or heme transporters have been identified in bloodsucking arthropods. Upon iron entry into midgut epithelial cells, ferritin serves as the universal storage protein and transport for dietary iron in many organisms including arthropods. In addition to its role as a nutrient, heme is also an important signaling molecule in the midgut epithelial cells for many physiological processes including vitellogenesis. This review article will summarize recent advancements in heme/iron uptake, detoxification and exportation in bloodfeeding arthropods. While initial strides have been made at ironing out the role of dietary iron and heme in arthropods, much still remains to be discovered as these molecules may serve as novel targets for the control of many arthropod pests.

The Dose Makes the Poison: Nutritional Overload Determines the Life Traits of Blood-Feeding Arthropods

Vertebrate blood composition is heavily biased towards proteins, and hemoglobin, which is a hemeprotein, is by far the most abundant protein. Typically, hematophagous insects ingest blood volumes several times their weight before the blood meal. This barbarian feast offers an abundance of nutrients, but the degradation of blood proteins generates toxic concentrations of amino acids and heme, along with unparalleled microbiota growth. Despite this challenge, hematophagous arthropods have successfully developed mechanisms that bypass the toxicity of these molecules. While these adaptations allow hematophagous arthropods to tolerate their diet, they also constitute a unique mode of operation for cell signaling, immunity, and metabolism, the study of which may offer insights into the biology of disease vectors and may lead to novel vector-specific control methods.

Novel carbazole aminoalcohols as inhibitors of β-hematin formation: Antiplasmodial and antischistosomal activities

Malaria and schistosomiasis are two of the most socioeconomically devastating parasitic diseases in tropical and subtropical countries. Since current chemotherapeutic options are limited and defective, there is an urgent need to develop novel antiplasmodials and antischistosomals. Hemozoin is a disposal product formed from the hemoglobin digestion by some blood-feeding parasites. Hemozoin formation is an essential process for the parasites to detoxify free heme, which is a reliable therapeutic target for identifying novel antiparasitic agents. A series of novel carbazole aminoalcohols were designed and synthesized as potential antiplasmodial and antischistosomal agents, and several compounds showed potent in vitro activities against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 and Dd2 strains and adult and juvenile Schistosoma japonicum. Investigations on the dual antiparasitic mechanisms showed the correlation between inhibitory activity of β-hematin formation and antiparasitic activity. Inhibiting hemozoin formation was identified as one of the mechanisms of action of carbazole aminoalcohols. Compound 7 displayed potent antiplasmodial (Pf3D7 IC₅₀ = 0.248 μM, PfDd2 IC₅₀ = 0.091 μM) and antischistosomal activities (100% mortality of adult and juvenile schistosomes at 5 and 10 μg/mL, respectively) and exhibited low cytotoxicity (CC₅₀ = 7.931 μM), which could be considered as a promising lead for further investigation. Stoichiometry determination and molecular docking studies were also performed to explain the mode of action of compound 7.

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Carbazole aminoalcohol was confirmed as a novel antiplasmodial and antischistosomal scaffold.

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The mechanism of action relied on β-hematin formation inhibition.

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The carbazole aminoalcohols interacted with hematin through forming a 1:1 complex.

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Compound 7 showed potent antiplasmodial ability (Pf3D7 IC₅₀ = 0.248 μM, PfDd2 IC₅₀ = 0.091 μM).

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In vitro antischistosomal effect of 7 meets the WHO's criterion of “hit” for schistosomiasis control.

Proliferation and differentiation of Trypanosoma cruzi inside its vector have a new trigger: redox status

Trypanosoma cruzi proliferate and differentiate inside different compartments of triatomines gut that is the first environment encountered by T. cruzi. Due to its complex life cycle, the parasite is constantly exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS). We tested the influence of the pro-oxidant molecules H2O2 and the superoxide generator, Paraquat, as well as, metabolism products of the vector, with distinct redox status, in the proliferation and metacyclogenesis. These molecules are heme, hemozoin and urate. We also tested the antioxidants NAC and GSH. Heme induced the proliferation of epimastigotes and impaired the metacyclogenesis. β-hematin, did not affect epimastigote proliferation but decreased parasite differentiation. Conversely, we show that urate, GSH and NAC dramatically impaired epimastigote proliferation and during metacyclogenesis, NAC and urate induced a significant increment of trypomastigotes and decreased the percentage of epimastigotes. We also quantified the parasite loads in the anterior and posterior midguts and in the rectum of the vector by qPCR. The treatment with the antioxidants increased the parasite loads in all midgut sections analyzed. In vivo, the group of vectors fed with reduced molecules showed an increment of trypomastigotes and decreased epimastigotes when analyzed by differential counting. Heme stimulated proliferation by increasing the cell number in the S and G2/M phases, whereas NAC arrested epimastigotes in G1 phase. NAC greatly increased the percentage of trypomastigotes. Taken together, these data show a shift in the triatomine gut microenvironment caused by the redox status may also influence T. cruzi biology inside the vector. In this scenario, oxidants act to turn on epimastigote proliferation while antioxidants seem to switch the cycle towards metacyclogenesis. This is a new insight that defines a key role for redox metabolism in governing the parasitic life cycle.

Detection and quantification of early-stage malaria parasites in laboratory infected erythrocytes by attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis

New diagnostic modalities for malaria must have high sensitivity and be affordable to the developing world. We report on a method to rapidly detect and quantify different stages of malaria parasites, including ring and gametocyte forms, using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR) and partial least-squares regression (PLS). The absolute detection limit was found to be 0.00001% parasitemia (<1 parasite/μL of blood; p < 0.008) for cultured early ring stage parasites in a suspension of normal erythrocytes. Future development of universal and robust calibration models can significantly improve malaria diagnoses, leading to earlier detection and treatment of this devastating disease.

Unsaturated glycerophospholipids mediate heme crystallization: biological implications for hemozoin formation in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus

Hemozoin (Hz) is a heme crystal produced by some blood-feeding organisms, as an efficient way to detoxify heme derived from hemoglobin digestion. In the triatomine insect Rhodnius prolixus, Hz is essentially produced by midgut extracellular phospholipid membranes known as perimicrovillar membranes (PMVM). Here, we investigated the role of commercial glycerophospholipids containing serine, choline and ethanolamine as headgroups and R. prolixus midgut lipids (RML) in heme crystallization. All commercial unsaturated forms of phospholipids, as well as RML, mediated fast and efficient β-hematin formation by means of two kinetically distinct mechanisms: an early and fast component, followed by a late and slow one. The fastest reactions observed were induced by unsaturated forms of phosphatidylethanolamine (uPE) and phosphatidylcholine (uPC), with half-lives of 0.04 and 0.7 minutes, respectively. β-hematin crystal morphologies were strikingly distinct among groups, with uPE producing homogeneous regular brick-shaped crystals. Interestingly, uPC-mediated reactions resulted in two morphologically distinct crystal populations: one less representative group of regular crystals, resembling those induced by uPE, and the other largely represented by crystals with numerous sharp edges and tapered ends. Heme crystallization reactions induced by RML were efficient, with a heme to β-hematin conversion rate higher than 70%, but clearly slower (t1/2 of 9.9-17.7 minutes) than those induced by uPC and uPE. Interestingly, crystals produced by RML were homogeneous in shape and quite similar to those mediated by uPE. Thus, β-hematin formation can be rapidly and efficiently induced by unsaturated glycerophospholipids, particularly uPE and uPC, and may play a role on biological heme crystallization in R. prolixus midgut.

Beyond heme detoxification: a role for hemozoin in iron transport in S. japonicum

Hemozoin (Hz) is considered a disposal product during the digestion of red blood cells by some blood-feeding parasites, such as Plasmodium, Schistosome, and Rhodnius. The only function of Hz that has been reported is to detoxify the free heme (Fe((III))-protoporphyrin-IX) in worms. Here we report a new role for Hz in iron transport in Schistosoma japonicum. Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we observed that S. japonicum hemozoin (sjHz) granules were a group of electron-dense, globe-, and comma-shaped granules. At the anterior end of female worm gut, these dark brown granules were found to be mixed with biconcave disc-shaped erythrocytes, in the middle portion of the gut these granules attached to destroyed erythrocytes and in the posterior portion of the gut no intact erythrocytes were observed except free sjHz granules. By energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Prussian blue iron staining, we found that these iron-containing sjHz granules are degraded near the microvilli adjacent to vitelline glands, resulting in the accumulation of a large amount of iron in the vitelline cells and eggs of developed S. japonicum. The accumulation of iron in vitelline glands was synchronized with the increase of sjHz granules in the gut. When S. japonicum just contained a little amount of sjHz granules in gut, hardly any accumulation of iron was detected in vitelline glands. However, when the lumen of gut filled full with sjHz granules, large amounts of iron was detected in vitelline glands. Solexa sequencing revealed that expression of iron store protein, ferritin-1 (CAX77379.1), is just significantly up-regulated in worms that contained a large amount of sjHz in gut. In contrast to the idea that sjHz granules are simply by-product of heme detoxification, we found that formation and degradation of sjHz granules in vivo likely serve for the iron transport. Our findings provide new insights into the biological significance of Hz formation.

Oxidative stress, photodamage and the role of screening pigments in insect eyes

Using red-eyed mutant triatomine bugs (Hemiptera: Reduvidae), we tested the hypothesis of an alternative function of insect screening pigments against oxidative stress. To test our hypothesis, we studied the morphological and physiological changes associated with the mutation. We found that wild-type eyes possess a great amount of brown and red screening pigment inside the primary and secondary pigment cells as well as in the retinular cells. Red-eyed mutants, however, have only scarce red granules inside the pigmentary cells. We then compared the visual sensitivity of red-eyed mutants and wild types by measuring the photonegative responses of insects reared in light:dark cycles [12 h:12 h light:dark (LD)] or constant darkness (DD). Finally, we analyzed both the impact of oxidative stress associated with blood ingestion and photodamage of UV light on the eye retina. We found that red-eyed mutants reared in DD conditions were the most sensitive to the light intensities tested. Retinae of LD-reared mutants were gradually damaged over the life cycle, while for DD-reared insects retinae were conserved intact. No retinal damage was observed in non-fed mutants exposed to UV light for 2 weeks, whereas insects fed on blood prior to UV exposure showed clear signs of retinal damage. Wild-type insects exposed to UV light showed a marked increase in the amount and density of screening pigments.

Heme-induced ROS in Trypanosoma cruzi activates CaMKII-like that triggers epimastigote proliferation. One helpful effect of ROS

Heme is a ubiquitous molecule that has a number of physiological roles. The toxic effects of this molecule have been demonstrated in various models, based on both its pro-oxidant nature and through a detergent mechanism. It is estimated that about 10 mM of heme is released during blood digestion in the blood-sucking bug's midgut. The parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas' disease, proliferates in the midgut of the insect vector; however, heme metabolism in trypanosomatids remains to be elucidated. Here we provide a mechanistic explanation for the proliferative effects of heme on trypanosomatids. Heme, but not other porphyrins, induced T. cruzi proliferation, and this phenomenon was accompanied by a marked increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in epimastigotes when monitored by ROS-sensitive fluorescent probes. Heme-induced ROS production was time-and concentration-dependent. In addition, lipid peroxidation and the formation of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE) adducts with parasite proteins were increased in epimastigotes in the presence of heme. Conversely, the antioxidants urate and GSH reversed the heme-induced ROS. Urate also decreased parasite proliferation. Among several protein kinase inhibitors tested only specific inhibitors of CaMKII, KN93 and Myr-AIP, were able to abolish heme-induced ROS formation in epimastigotes leading to parasite growth impairment. Taken together, these data provide new insight into T. cruzi- insect vector interactions: heme, a molecule from the blood digestion, triggers epimastigote proliferation through a redox-sensitive signalling mechanism.

On the mechanisms involved in biological heme crystallization

Blood-feeding organisms digest hemoglobin, releasing large quantities of heme inside their digestive tracts. Free heme is very toxic, and these organisms have evolved several mechanisms to protect against its deleterious effects. One of these adaptations is the crystallization of heme into the dark-brown pigment hemozoin (Hz). Here we review the process of Hz formation, focusing on organisms other than Plasmodium that have contributed to a better understanding of heme crystallization. Hemozoin has been found in several distinct classes of organisms including protozoa, helminths and insects and Hz formation is the predominant form of heme detoxification. The available evidence indicates that amphiphilic structures such as phospholipid membranes and lipid droplets accompanied by specific proteins play a major role in heme crystallization. Because this process is specific to a number of blood-feeding organisms and absent in their hosts, Hz formation is an attractive target for the development of novel drugs to control illnesses associated with these hematophagous organisms.

Sn-protoporphyrin inhibits both heme degradation and hemozoin formation in Rhodnius prolixus midgut

Hematophagy is a feeding habit that involves the ingestion of huge amounts of heme. The hematophagous hemipteran Rhodnius prolixus evolved many genetic resources to protect cells against heme toxicity. The primary barrier against the deleterious effects of heme is the aggregation of heme into hemozoin in the midgut lumen. Hemozoin formation is followed by the enzymatic degradation of heme by means of a unique pathway whose end product is dicysteinyl-biliverdin IX-γ (Rhodnius prolixus biliverdin, RpBv). These mechanisms are complemented by a heme-binding protein (RHBP) in the hemolymph that attenuates the pro-oxidant effects of heme. In this work, we show that when insects are fed with blood enriched with a heme analog, Sn-protoporphyrin (SnPP-IX), both hemozoin synthesis and RpBv production are inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. These effects are accompanied by increased oxidative damage to the midgut epithelium and inhibition of oviposition, indicating that hemozoin formation and heme degradation are protective mechanisms that work together and contributed to the adaptation of this insect to successfully feed on vertebrate blood.

Increase on the initial soluble heme levels in acidic conditions is an important mechanism for spontaneous heme crystallization in vitro

BACKGROUND

Hemozoin (Hz) is a heme crystal that represents a vital pathway for heme disposal in several blood-feeding organisms. Recent evidence demonstrated that β-hematin (βH) (the synthetic counterpart of Hz) formation occurs under physiological conditions near synthetic or biological hydrophilic-hydrophobic interfaces. This seems to require a heme dimer acting as a precursor of Hz crystals that would be formed spontaneously in the absence of the competing water molecules bound to the heme iron. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of medium polarity on spontaneous βH formation in vitro.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

We assessed the effect of water content on spontaneous βH formation by using the aprotic solvent dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and a series of polyethyleneglycols (PEGs). We observed that both DMSO and PEGs (3.350, 6.000, 8.000, and 22.000) increased the levels of soluble heme under acidic conditions. These compounds were able to stimulate the production of βH crystals in the absence of any biological sample. Interestingly, the effects of DMSO and PEGs on βH formation were positively correlated with their capacity to promote previous heme solubilization in acidic conditions. Curiously, a short chain polyethyleneglycol (PEG 300) caused a significant reduction in both soluble heme levels and βH formation. Finally, both heme solubilization and βH formation strongly correlated with reduced medium water activity provided by increased DMSO concentrations.

CONCLUSIONS

The data presented here support the notion that reduction of the water activity is an important mechanism to support spontaneous heme crystallization, which depends on the previous increase of soluble heme levels.