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Kamran M, Bhattacharjee R, Das S, Mukherjee S, Ali N. The paradigm of intracellular parasite survival and drug resistance in leishmanial parasite through genome plasticity and epigenetics: Perception and future perspective. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1001973. [PMID: 36814446 PMCID: PMC9939536 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1001973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmania is an intracellular, zoonotic, kinetoplastid eukaryote with more than 1.2 million cases all over the world. The leishmanial chromosomes are divided into polymorphic chromosomal ends, conserved central domains, and antigen-encoding genes found in telomere-proximal regions. The genome flexibility of chromosomal ends of the leishmanial parasite is known to cause drug resistance and intracellular survival through the evasion of host defense mechanisms. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the plasticity of Leishmania genome organization which is the primary cause of drug resistance and parasite survival. Moreover, we have not only elucidated the causes of such genome plasticity which includes aneuploidy, epigenetic factors, copy number variation (CNV), and post-translation modification (PTM) but also highlighted their impact on drug resistance and parasite survival.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sonali Das
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | - Sohitri Mukherjee
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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2
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Nemati Haravani T, Parvizi P, Hejazi SH, Sedaghat MM, Eskandarian A, Nateghi Rostami M. Evaluation of expression variations in virulence-related genes of Leishmania major after several culture passages compared with Phlebotomus papatasi isolated promastigotes. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0284240. [PMID: 37053214 PMCID: PMC10101501 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a prevalent infectious disease with considerable morbidity annually. Here, we aimed to investigate the likely variations in gene expression of glycoprotein63 (gp63), heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), histone, arginase, cysteine protease B (CPB), Leishmania homologue of receptors for activated C kinase (LACK), small hydrophilic endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein (SHERP) in metacyclic promastigotes of L. major isolated from Phlebotomus papatasi sand flies and promastigotes excessively cultured in culture medium. The parasites were collected from suspected CL cases in Pasteur Institute of Iran, cultured and inoculated into the female BALB/c mice (2×106 promastigotes). Sand flies were trapped in Qom province, fed with the blood of euthanized infected mice and subsequently dissected in order to isolate the midgut including stomodeal valve. The metacyclic promastigotes were isolated from Ph. papatasi (Pro-Ppap) using peanut agglutinin test (PNA), then continuously cultured in RPMI-1640 medium enriched with fetal bovine serum, penicillin (100 U/ml) and streptomycin (100 mg/ml) to reach stationary phase (Pro-Stat). The gene expression was evaluated in both parasitic stages (Pro-Ppap and Pro-Stat) using qRT-PCR. Out results showed a significant increased gene expression at Pro-Ppap stage for gp63 (P = 0.002), SHERP (P = 0.001) and histone (P = 0.026) genes, in comparison with Pro-Stat stage. Noticeably, significant changes were, also, demonstrated in 10th to 15th passages [gp63 (P = 0.041), arginase (P = 0.016), LACK (P = 0.025)] and in 5th to 20th passage (SHERP) (P = 0.029). In conclusion, the findings of the present study seem to be essential in designing Leishmania studies, in particular regarding host-parasite interaction, immunization and infectivity studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taher Nemati Haravani
- Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Parviz Parvizi
- Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Parasitology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Seyed Hossein Hejazi
- Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Mohammad Mehdi Sedaghat
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Abbasali Eskandarian
- Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
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3
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An insight into differential protein abundance throughout Leishmania donovani promastigote growth and differentiation. Int Microbiol 2023; 26:25-42. [PMID: 35930160 PMCID: PMC9362617 DOI: 10.1007/s10123-022-00259-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2022] [Revised: 05/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Leishmania donovani causes anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis, responsible for about 50,000 annual deaths worldwide. Current therapies have considerable side effects. Drug resistance has been reported and no vaccine is available nowadays. The development of undifferentiated promastigotes in the sand fly vector's gut leads to the promastigote form that is highly infective to the mammalian host. Fully differentiated promastigotes play a crucial role in the initial stages of mammalian host infection before internalization in the host phagocytic cell. Therefore, the study of protein levels in the promastigote stage is relevant for disease control, and proteomics analysis is an ideal source of vaccine candidate discovery. This study aims to get insight into the protein levels during the differentiation process of promastigotes by 2DE-MALDI-TOF/TOF. This partial proteome analysis has led to the identification of 75 proteins increased in at least one of the L. donovani promastigote differentiation and growth phases. This study has revealed the differential abundance of said proteins during growth and differentiation. According to previous studies, some are directly involved in parasite survival or are immunostimulatory. The parasite survival-related proteins are ascorbate peroxidase; cystathionine β synthase; an elongation factor 1β paralog; elongation factor 2; endoribonuclease L-PSP; an iron superoxide dismutase paralog; GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase; several heat shock proteins-HSP70, HSP83-17, mHSP70-rel, HSP110; methylthioadenosine phosphorylase; two thiol-dependent reductase 1 paralogs; transitional endoplasmic reticulum ATPase; and the AhpC thioredoxin paralog. The confirmed immunostimulatory proteins are the heat shock proteins, enolase, and protein kinase C receptor analog. The potential immunostimulatory molecules according to findings in patogenic bacteria are fructose-1,6-diphophate aldolase, dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase E1α and E1β subunits, and triosephosphate isomerase. These proteins may become disease control candidates through future intra-vector control methods or vaccines.
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Promastigote-to-Amastigote Conversion in Leishmania spp.—A Molecular View. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11091052. [PMID: 36145483 PMCID: PMC9503511 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11091052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
A key factor in the successful infection of a mammalian host by Leishmania parasites is their conversion from extracellular motile promastigotes into intracellular amastigotes. We discuss the physical and chemical triggers that induce this conversion and the accompanying changes at the molecular level crucial for the survival of these intracellular parasites. Special emphasis is given to the reliance of these trypanosomatids on the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression but also to the role played by protein kinases, chaperone proteins and proteolytic enzymes. Lastly, we offer a model to integrate the transduction of different stress signals for the induction of stage conversion.
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5
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Cortazzo da Silva L, Aoki JI, Floeter-Winter LM. Finding Correlations Between mRNA and Protein Levels in Leishmania Development: Is There a Discrepancy? Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:852902. [PMID: 35903202 PMCID: PMC9318571 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.852902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple genes and proteins have been identified as differentially expressed in the stages of the Leishmania life cycle. The differentiation processes are implicated in specific transcriptional and proteomic adjustments driven by gene expression regulation mechanisms. Leishmania parasites lack gene-specific transcriptional control, and gene expression regulation mostly depends on posttranscriptional mechanisms. Due to the lack of transcriptional regulation, criticism regarding the relevance of transcript quantification as a possible and efficient prediction of protein levels is recurrent in studies that use transcriptomic information. The advent of high-throughput technologies has improved the analysis of genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes for different organisms under several conditions. Nevertheless, defining the correlation between transcriptional and proteomic profiles requires arduous and expensive work and remains a challenge in Leishmania. In this review, we analyze transcriptomic and proteomic data for several Leishmania species in two different stages of the parasite life cycle: metacyclogenesis and amastigogenesis (amastigote differentiation). We found a correlation between mRNA and protein levels of 60.9% and 69.8% for metacyclogenesis and amastigogenesis, respectively; showing that majority mRNA and protein levels increase or decrease concomitantly. Among the analyzed genes that did not present correlation indicate that transcriptomic data should be carefully interpreted as protein expression. We also discuss possible explanations and mechanisms involved for this lack of correlation.
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Alonso A, Larraga J, Loayza FJ, Martínez E, Valladares B, Larraga V, Alcolea PJ. Stable Episomal Transfectant Leishmania infantum Promastigotes Over-Expressing the DEVH1 RNA Helicase Gene Down-Regulate Parasite Survival Genes. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11070761. [PMID: 35890006 PMCID: PMC9323391 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11070761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The compartmentalization of untranslated mRNA molecules in granules occurring in many eukaryotic organisms including trypanosomatids involves the formation of complexes between mRNA molecules and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). The putative ATP-dependent DEAD/H RNA helicase (DEVH1) from Leishmania infantum (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) is one such proteins. The objective of this research is finding differentially expressed genes in a stable episomal transfectant L. infantum promastigote line over-expressing DEVH1 in the stationary phase of growth in axenic culture to get insight into the biological roles of this RNA helicase in the parasite. Interestingly, genes related to parasite survival and virulence factors, such as the hydrophilic surface protein/small hydrophilic endoplasmic reticulum protein (HASP/SHERP) gene cluster, an amastin, and genes related to reactive oxygen species detoxification are down-regulated in DEVH1 transfectant promastigotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Alonso
- Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology and Vaccines, Biological, Immunological, and Chemical Drug Development for Global Health Unit (BICS), Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Center for Biological Research Margarita Salas, Spanish Research Council (CIBMS-CSIC), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.A.); (J.L.); (F.J.L.); (V.L.)
| | - Jaime Larraga
- Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology and Vaccines, Biological, Immunological, and Chemical Drug Development for Global Health Unit (BICS), Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Center for Biological Research Margarita Salas, Spanish Research Council (CIBMS-CSIC), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.A.); (J.L.); (F.J.L.); (V.L.)
| | - Francisco Javier Loayza
- Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology and Vaccines, Biological, Immunological, and Chemical Drug Development for Global Health Unit (BICS), Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Center for Biological Research Margarita Salas, Spanish Research Council (CIBMS-CSIC), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.A.); (J.L.); (F.J.L.); (V.L.)
| | - Enrique Martínez
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Toxicology, Legal and Forensic Medicine and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University Institute of Public Health of the Canary Islands (IUETSPC), University of La Laguna (ULL), Avda, Astrofísico Francisco, Sánchez s/n, Campus de Anchieta, 38207 La Laguna, Spain; (E.M.); (B.V.)
| | - Basilio Valladares
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Toxicology, Legal and Forensic Medicine and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University Institute of Public Health of the Canary Islands (IUETSPC), University of La Laguna (ULL), Avda, Astrofísico Francisco, Sánchez s/n, Campus de Anchieta, 38207 La Laguna, Spain; (E.M.); (B.V.)
| | - Vicente Larraga
- Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology and Vaccines, Biological, Immunological, and Chemical Drug Development for Global Health Unit (BICS), Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Center for Biological Research Margarita Salas, Spanish Research Council (CIBMS-CSIC), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.A.); (J.L.); (F.J.L.); (V.L.)
| | - Pedro José Alcolea
- Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology and Vaccines, Biological, Immunological, and Chemical Drug Development for Global Health Unit (BICS), Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Center for Biological Research Margarita Salas, Spanish Research Council (CIBMS-CSIC), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (A.A.); (J.L.); (F.J.L.); (V.L.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-9-1837-3112; Fax: +34-9-1536-0432
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7
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Salloum T, Tokajian S, Hirt RP. Advances in Understanding Leishmania Pathobiology: What Does RNA-Seq Tell Us? Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:702240. [PMID: 34540827 PMCID: PMC8440825 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.702240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by a protozoa parasite from over 20 Leishmania species. The clinical manifestations and the outcome of the disease vary greatly. Global RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analyses emerged as a powerful technique to profile the changes in the transcriptome that occur in the Leishmania parasites and their infected host cells as the parasites progresses through their life cycle. Following the bite of a sandfly vector, Leishmania are transmitted to a mammalian host where neutrophils and macrophages are key cells mediating the interactions with the parasites and result in either the elimination the infection or contributing to its proliferation. This review focuses on RNA-Seq based transcriptomics analyses and summarizes the main findings derived from this technology. In doing so, we will highlight caveats in our understanding of the parasite’s pathobiology and suggest novel directions for research, including integrating more recent data highlighting the role of the bacterial members of the sandfly gut microbiota and the mammalian host skin microbiota in their potential role in influencing the quantitative and qualitative aspects of leishmaniasis pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Salloum
- Department of Natural Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon
| | - Sima Tokajian
- Department of Natural Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon
| | - Robert P Hirt
- Faculty of Medical Sciences, Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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8
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Role of chromatin modulation in the establishment of protozoan parasite infection for developing targeted chemotherapeutics. THE NUCLEUS 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s13237-021-00356-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
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9
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Freitas-Mesquita AL, Dos-Santos ALA, Meyer-Fernandes JR. Involvement of Leishmania Phosphatases in Parasite Biology and Pathogeny. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:633146. [PMID: 33968798 PMCID: PMC8100340 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.633146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
In the Leishmania lifecycle, the motile promastigote form is transmitted from the sand fly vector to a mammalian host during a blood meal. Inside vertebrate host macrophages, the parasites can differentiate into the amastigote form and multiply, causing leishmaniasis, one of the most significant neglected tropical diseases. Leishmania parasites face different conditions throughout their development inside sand flies. Once in the mammalian host, the parasites have to overcome the microbicide repertoire of the cells of the immune system to successfully establish the infection. In this context, the expression of protein phosphatases is of particular interest. Several members of the serine/threonine-specific protein phosphatase (STP), protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP), and histidine acid phosphatase (HAcP) families have been described in different Leishmania species. Although their physiological roles have not been fully elucidated, many studies suggest they have an involvement with parasite biology and pathogeny. Phosphatases play a role in adaptation to nutrient starvation during parasite passage through the sand fly midgut. They are also important to parasite virulence, mainly due to the modulation of host cytokine production and impairment of the microbiocidal potential of macrophages. Furthermore, recent whole-genome expression analyses have shown that different phosphatases are upregulated in metacyclic promastigotes, the infective form of the mammalian host. Leishmania phosphatases are also upregulated in drug-resistant strains, probably due to the increase in drug efflux related to the activation of ABC transporters. Throughout this review, we will describe the physiological roles that have been attributed to Leishmania endogenous phosphatases, including their involvement in the adaptation, survival, and proliferation of the parasites inside their hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Leocadio Freitas-Mesquita
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - André Luiz Araújo Dos-Santos
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - José Roberto Meyer-Fernandes
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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González M, Alcolea PJ, Álvarez R, Medarde M, Larraga V, Peláez R. New diarylsulfonamide inhibitors of Leishmania infantum amastigotes. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2021; 16:45-64. [PMID: 34015753 PMCID: PMC8142021 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2021.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
New drugs against visceral leishmaniasis with mechanisms of action differing from existing treatments and with adequate cost, stability, and properties are urgently needed. No antitubulin drug is currently in the clinic against Leishmania infantum, the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean area. We have designed and synthesized a focused library of 350 compounds against the Leishmania tubulin based on the structure-activity relationship (SAR) and sequence differences between host and parasite. The compounds synthesized are accessible, stable, and appropriately soluble in water. We assayed the library against Leishmania promastigotes, axenic, and intracellular amastigotes and found 0, 8, and 16 active compounds, respectively, with a high success rate against intracellular amastigotes of over 10%, not including the cytotoxic compounds. Five compounds have a similar or better potency than the clinically used miltefosine. 14 compounds showed a host-dependent mechanism of action that might be advantageous as it may render them less susceptible to the development of drug resistance. The active compounds cluster in five chemical classes that provide structure-activity relationships for further hit improvement and facilitate series development. Molecular docking is consistent with the proposed mechanism of action, supported by the observed structure-activity relationships, and suggests a potential extension to other Leishmania species due to sequence similarities. A new family of diarylsulfonamides designed against the parasite tubulins is active against Leishmania infantum and represents a new class of potential drugs with favorable cost, stability, and aqueous solubility for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). These results could be extended to other clinically relevant species of Leishmania spp.
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Affiliation(s)
- Myriam González
- Laboratorio de Química Orgánica y Farmacéutica, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca (CIETUS), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Pedro José Alcolea
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Raquel Álvarez
- Laboratorio de Química Orgánica y Farmacéutica, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca (CIETUS), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Manuel Medarde
- Laboratorio de Química Orgánica y Farmacéutica, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca (CIETUS), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Vicente Larraga
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rafael Peláez
- Laboratorio de Química Orgánica y Farmacéutica, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca (CIETUS), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
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11
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Grünebast J, Clos J. Leishmania: Responding to environmental signals and challenges without regulated transcription. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2020; 18:4016-4023. [PMID: 33363698 PMCID: PMC7744640 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.11.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/28/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Here we describe the non-canonical control of gene expression in Leishmania, a single-cell parasite that is responsible for one of the major neglected tropical diseases. We discuss the lack of regulated RNA synthesis, the post-transcriptional gene regulation including RNA stability and regulated translation. We also show that genetic adaptations such as mosaic aneuploidy, gene copy number variations and DNA sequence polymorphisms are important means for overcoming drug challenge and environmental diversity. These mechanisms are discussed in the context of the unique flow of genetic information found in Leishmania and related protists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janne Grünebast
- Leishmaniasis Group, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Joachim Clos
- Leishmaniasis Group, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
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12
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Rojas-Pirela M, Andrade-Alviárez D, Rojas V, Kemmerling U, Cáceres AJ, Michels PA, Concepción JL, Quiñones W. Phosphoglycerate kinase: structural aspects and functions, with special emphasis on the enzyme from Kinetoplastea. Open Biol 2020; 10:200302. [PMID: 33234025 PMCID: PMC7729029 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.200302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) is a glycolytic enzyme that is well conserved among the three domains of life. PGK is usually a monomeric enzyme of about 45 kDa that catalyses one of the two ATP-producing reactions in the glycolytic pathway, through the conversion of 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate (1,3BPGA) to 3-phosphoglycerate (3PGA). It also participates in gluconeogenesis, catalysing the opposite reaction to produce 1,3BPGA and ADP. Like most other glycolytic enzymes, PGK has also been catalogued as a moonlighting protein, due to its involvement in different functions not associated with energy metabolism, which include pathogenesis, interaction with nucleic acids, tumorigenesis progression, cell death and viral replication. In this review, we have highlighted the overall aspects of this enzyme, such as its structure, reaction kinetics, activity regulation and possible moonlighting functions in different protistan organisms, especially both free-living and parasitic Kinetoplastea. Our analysis of the genomes of different kinetoplastids revealed the presence of open-reading frames (ORFs) for multiple PGK isoforms in several species. Some of these ORFs code for unusually large PGKs. The products appear to contain additional structural domains fused to the PGK domain. A striking aspect is that some of these PGK isoforms are predicted to be catalytically inactive enzymes or ‘dead’ enzymes. The roles of PGKs in kinetoplastid parasites are analysed, and the apparent significance of the PGK gene duplication that gave rise to the different isoforms and their expression in Trypanosoma cruzi is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maura Rojas-Pirela
- Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso, Valparaiso 2373223, Chile
| | - Diego Andrade-Alviárez
- Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida 5101, Venezuela
| | - Verónica Rojas
- Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso, Valparaiso 2373223, Chile
| | - Ulrike Kemmerling
- Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Medicina, Santiago de Chile 8380453, Santigo de Chile
| | - Ana J Cáceres
- Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida 5101, Venezuela
| | - Paul A Michels
- Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK.,Centre for Translational and Chemical Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Juan Luis Concepción
- Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida 5101, Venezuela
| | - Wilfredo Quiñones
- Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida 5101, Venezuela
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13
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Wang Y, Ehsan M, Wang S, Tian X, Yan R, Song X, Xu L, Li X. Modulatory functions of recombinant electron transfer flavoprotein α subunit protein from Haemonchus contortus on goat immune cells in vitro. Vet Parasitol 2020; 288:109300. [PMID: 33152677 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2020.109300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 10/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Suppression and modulation of the host immune response to parasitic nematodes have been extensively studied. In the present study, we cloned and produced recombinant electron transfer flavoprotein α subunit (ETFα) protein from Haemonchus contortus (rHCETFα), a parasitic nematode of small ruminants, and studied the effect of this protein on modulating the immune response of goat peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and monocytes. Immunohistochemical tests verified that the HCETFα protein was localized mainly in the intestinal wall and on the body surface of worms. Immunoblot analysis revealed that rHCETFα was recognized by the serum of goats artificially infected with H. contortus. Immunofluorescence analysis indicated that rHCETFα bound to the surface of PBMCs. rHCETFα was co-incubated with goat PBMCs to observe the immunomodulatory effects exerted by HCETFα on proliferation, apoptosis, cytokine secretion and nitric oxide (NO) production. The results showed that rHCETFα suppressed the proliferation of goat PBMCs stimulated by concanavalin A and induced apoptosis in goat PBMCs. After rHCETFα exposure, IL-2, IL-4, IL-17A and TNF-α expression was markedly reduced, whereas secretion of TGF-β1 was significantly elevated, in goat PBMCs. Moreover, rHCETFα up-regulated NO production in a dose-dependent manner. FITC-dextran internalization assays showed that rHCETFα inhibited phagocytosis of goat monocytes. These results elucidate the interaction between parasites and hosts at the molecular level, suggest a possible immunomodulatory target and contribute to the search for innovative proteins that may be candidate targets for drugs and vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujian Wang
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China; School of Life Science, Huizhou University, Huizhou 516007, PR China.
| | - Muhammad Ehsan
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
| | - Shuai Wang
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
| | - Xiaowei Tian
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
| | - RuoFeng Yan
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
| | - XiaoKai Song
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
| | - LiXin Xu
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
| | - XiangRui Li
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
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Lima BSDS, Esteves BB, Fialho-Júnior LC, Mendes TADO, Pires SDF, Chapeourouge A, Perales J, de Andrade HM. Study of the differentially abundant proteins among Leishmania amazonensis, L. braziliensis, and L. infantum. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0240612. [PMID: 33057350 PMCID: PMC7561129 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis has been considered as emerging and re-emerging disease, and its increasing global incidence has raised concerns. The great clinical diversity of the disease is mainly determined by the species. In several American countries, tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL) is associated with both Leishmania amazonensis and L. braziliensis, while visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is associated with L. (L.) infantum. The major molecules that determine the most diverse biological variations are proteins. In the present study, through a DIGE approach, we identified differentially abundant proteins among the species mentioned above. We observed a variety of proteins with differential abundance among the studied species; and the biological networks predicted for each species showed that many of these proteins interacted with each other. The prominent proteins included the heat shock proteins (HSPs) and the protein network involved in oxide reduction process in L. amazonensis, the protein network of ribosomes in L. braziliensis, and the proteins involved in energy metabolism in L. infantum. The important proteins, as revealed by the PPI network results, enrichment categories, and exclusive proteins analysis, were arginase, HSPs, and trypanothione reductase in L. amazonensis; enolase, peroxidoxin, and tryparedoxin1 in L. braziliensis; and succinyl-CoA ligase [GDP -forming] beta-chain and transaldolase in L. infantum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruna Soares de Souza Lima
- Departamento de Medicina, Faculdade Dinâmica do Vale do Piranga (FADIP), Ponte Nova, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Laboratório de Leishmanioses, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Barbara Beiral Esteves
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Laboratório de Leishmanioses, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Luiz Carlos Fialho-Júnior
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Laboratório de Leishmanioses, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | - Simone da Fonseca Pires
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Laboratório de Leishmanioses, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | - Jonas Perales
- Laboratório de Toxinologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Helida Monteiro de Andrade
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Laboratório de Leishmanioses, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- * E-mail:
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15
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Kumar A, Pandey SC, Samant M. DNA-based microarray studies in visceral leishmaniasis: identification of biomarkers for diagnostic, prognostic and drug target for treatment. Acta Trop 2020; 208:105512. [PMID: 32389452 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Revised: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 04/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the major infectious diseases affecting the poorest regions of the world. Current therapy is not very much satisfactory. The alarming rise of drug resistance and the unavailability of an effective vaccine against VL urges research towards identifying new targets or biomarkers for its effective treatment. New technology developments offer some fresh hope in its diagnosis, treatment, and control. DNA microarray approach is now broadly used in parasitology research to facilitate the thoughtful of mechanisms of disease and identification of drug targets and biomarkers for diagnostic and therapeutic development. An electronic search on "VL" and "Microarray" was conducted in Medline and Scopus and papers published in the English mentioning use of DNA microarray on VL were selected and read to write this paper review. Functional analysis and interpretation of microarray results remain very challenging due to the inherent nature of experimental workflows, access, cost, and complexity of data obtained. We have explained and emphasized the use of curate knowledge of microarray in the case of VL for the identification of therapeutic target and biomarker and their selection/implementation in clinical use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Awanish Kumar
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), INDIA
| | - Satish Chandra Pandey
- Cell and Molecular biology laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora (Uttarakhand), INDIA; Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University Nainital, Bhimtal Campus, Bhimtal, Nainital (Uttarakhand), INDIA
| | - Mukesh Samant
- Cell and Molecular biology laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora (Uttarakhand), INDIA.
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Corpas-López V, Tabraue-Chávez M, Sixto-López Y, Panadero-Fajardo S, Alves de Lima Franco F, Domínguez-Seglar JF, Morillas-Márquez F, Franco-Montalbán F, Díaz-Gavilán M, Correa-Basurto J, López-Viota J, López-Viota M, Pérez del Palacio J, de la Cruz M, de Pedro N, Martín-Sánchez J, Gómez-Vidal JA. O-Alkyl Hydroxamates Display Potent and Selective Antileishmanial Activity. J Med Chem 2020; 63:5734-5751. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b02016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Victoriano Corpas-López
- Departamento de Parasitologı́a, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Mavys Tabraue-Chávez
- Departamento de Quı́mica Farmacéutica y Orgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Yudibeth Sixto-López
- Laboratorio de Diseño y Desarrollo de Nuevos Fármacos y Productos Biotecnológicos, Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de San Luis y Díaz Mirón, 11340 México City, México
| | - Sonia Panadero-Fajardo
- Departamento de Quı́mica Farmacéutica y Orgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Fernando Alves de Lima Franco
- Departamento de Parasitologı́a, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - José F. Domínguez-Seglar
- Departamento de Quı́mica Farmacéutica y Orgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Francisco Morillas-Márquez
- Departamento de Parasitologı́a, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Francisco Franco-Montalbán
- Departamento de Quı́mica Farmacéutica y Orgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Mónica Díaz-Gavilán
- Departamento de Quı́mica Farmacéutica y Orgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - José Correa-Basurto
- Laboratorio de Diseño y Desarrollo de Nuevos Fármacos y Productos Biotecnológicos, Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de San Luis y Díaz Mirón, 11340 México City, México
| | - Julián López-Viota
- Departamento de Farmacia y Tecnologı́a Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Margarita López-Viota
- Departamento de Farmacia y Tecnologı́a Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | | | | | - Nuria de Pedro
- Fundación MEDINA, Parque Tecnológico de la Salud, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Joaquina Martín-Sánchez
- Departamento de Parasitologı́a, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - José A. Gómez-Vidal
- Departamento de Quı́mica Farmacéutica y Orgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
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17
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Crepaldi F, de Toledo JS, do Carmo AO, Ferreira Marques Machado L, de Brito DDV, Serufo AV, Almeida APM, de Oliveira LG, Ricotta TQN, Moreira DDS, Murta SMF, Diniz AB, Menezes GB, López-Gonzálvez Á, Barbas C, Fernandes AP. Mapping Alterations Induced by Long-Term Axenic Cultivation of Leishmania amazonensis Promastigotes With a Multiplatform Metabolomic Fingerprint Approach. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2019; 9:403. [PMID: 31867285 PMCID: PMC6904349 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniases are widespread neglected diseases with an incidence of 1.6 million new cases and 40 thousand deaths per year. Leishmania parasites may show distinct, species-specific patterns of virulence that lead to different clinical manifestations. It is well known that successive in vitro passages (SIVP) lead to the attenuation of virulence, but neither the metabolism nor the pathways involved in these processes are well understood. Herein, promastigotes of a virulent L. amazonensis strain recently isolated from mice was compared to SIVP derived and attenuated promastigotes, submitted to 10, 40, and 60 axenic passages and named R10, R40, and R60, respectively. In vitro assays and in vivo tests were performed to characterize and confirmed the attenuation profiles. A metabolomic fingerprint comparison of R0, R10, and R60 was performed by means of capillary electrophoresis, liquid and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. To validate the metabolomic data, qPCR for selected loci, flow cytometry to measure aPS exposure, sensitivity to antimony tartrate and ROS production assays were conducted. The 65 identified metabolites were clustered in biochemical categories and mapped in eight metabolic pathways: ABC transporters; fatty acid biosynthesis; glycine, serine and threonine metabolism; β-alanine metabolism; glutathione metabolism; oxidative phosphorylation; glycerophospholipid metabolism and lysine degradation. The obtained metabolomic data correlated with previous proteomic findings of the SVIP parasites and the gene expression of 13 selected targets. Late SIVP cultures were more sensitive to SbIII produced more ROS and exposed less phosphatidylserine in their surface. The correspondent pathways were connected to build a biochemical map of the most significant alterations involved with the process of attenuation of L. amazonensis. Overall, the reported data pointed out to a very dynamic and continuous metabolic reprogramming process, accompanied by changes in energetic, lipid and redox metabolisms, membrane remodeling and reshaping of parasite-host cells interactions, causing impacts in chemotaxis, host inflammatory responses and infectivity at the early stages of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederico Crepaldi
- Clinical and Toxicological Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.,Centro de Metabolómica y Bioanálisis, Unidad Metabolómica, Interacciones y Bioanálisis (UMIB), Universidad CEU San Pablo, Boadilla del Monte, Spain
| | - Juliano Simões de Toledo
- Clinical and Toxicological Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.,Centro de Metabolómica y Bioanálisis, Unidad Metabolómica, Interacciones y Bioanálisis (UMIB), Universidad CEU San Pablo, Boadilla del Monte, Spain
| | - Anderson Oliveira do Carmo
- Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Markers, General Biology Department, Institute of Biological Science, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | | | - Daniela Diniz Viana de Brito
- Clinical and Toxicological Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Angela Vieira Serufo
- Clinical and Toxicological Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Ana Paula Martins Almeida
- Clinical and Toxicological Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Leandro Gonzaga de Oliveira
- Clinical and Toxicological Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Tiago Queiroga Nery Ricotta
- Clinical and Toxicological Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | | | | | - Ariane Barros Diniz
- Morphology Department, Institute of Biological Science, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Gustavo Batista Menezes
- Morphology Department, Institute of Biological Science, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Ángeles López-Gonzálvez
- Centro de Metabolómica y Bioanálisis, Unidad Metabolómica, Interacciones y Bioanálisis (UMIB), Universidad CEU San Pablo, Boadilla del Monte, Spain
| | - Coral Barbas
- Centro de Metabolómica y Bioanálisis, Unidad Metabolómica, Interacciones y Bioanálisis (UMIB), Universidad CEU San Pablo, Boadilla del Monte, Spain
| | - Ana Paula Fernandes
- Clinical and Toxicological Analysis Department, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
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Abstract
Background Leishmania development in the sand fly gut leads to highly infective forms called metacyclic promastigotes. This process can be routinely mimicked in culture. Gene expression–profiling studies by transcriptome analysis have been performed with the aim of studying promastigote forms in the sand fly gut, as well as differences between sand fly–and culture-derived promastigotes. Findings Transcriptome analysis has revealed the crucial role of the microenvironment in parasite development within the sand fly gut because substantial differences and moderate correlation between the transcriptomes of cultured and sand fly–derived promastigotes have been found. Sand fly–derived metacyclics are more infective than metacyclics in culture. Therefore, some caution should be exercised when using cultured promastigotes, depending on the experimental design. The most remarkable examples are the hydrophilic acidic surface protein/small endoplasmic reticulum protein (HASP/SHERP) cluster, the glycoprotein 63 (gp63), and autophagy genes, which are up-regulated in sand fly–derived promastigotes compared with cultured promastigotes. Because HASP/SHERP genes are up-regulated in nectomonad and metacyclic promastigotes in the sand fly, the encoded proteins are not metacyclic specific. Metacyclic promastigotes are distinguished by morphology and high infectivity. Isolating them from the sand fly gut is not exempt from technical difficulty, because other promastigote forms remain in the gut even 15 days after infection. Leishmania major procyclic promastigotes within the sand fly gut up-regulate genes involved in cell cycle regulation and glucose catabolism, whereas metacyclics increase transcript levels of fatty acid biosynthesis and ATP-coupled proton transport genes. Most parasite's signal transduction pathways remain uncharacterized. Future elucidation may improve understanding of parasite development, particularly signaling molecule-encoding genes in sand fly versus culture and between promastigote forms in the sand fly gut. Conclusions Transcriptome analysis has been demonstrated to be technically efficacious to study differential gene expression in sand fly gut promastigote forms. Transcript and protein levels are not well correlated in these organisms (approximately 25% quantitative coincidences), especially under stress situations and at differentiation processes. However, transcript and protein levels behave similarly in approximately 60% of cases from a qualitative point of view (increase, decrease, or no variation). Changes in translational efficiency observed in other trypanosomatids strongly suggest that the differences are due to translational regulation and regulation of the steady-state protein levels. The lack of low-input sample strategies does not allow translatome and proteome analysis of sand fly–derived promastigotes so far.
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Afrin F, Khan I, Hemeg HA. Leishmania-Host Interactions-An Epigenetic Paradigm. Front Immunol 2019; 10:492. [PMID: 30967861 PMCID: PMC6438953 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is one of the major neglected tropical diseases, for which no vaccines exist. Chemotherapy is hampered by limited efficacy coupled with development of resistance and other side effects. Leishmania parasites elude the host defensive mechanisms by modulating their surface proteins as well as dampening the host's immune responses. The parasites use the conventional RNA polymerases peculiarly under different environmental cues or pressures such as the host's milieu or the drugs. The mechanisms that restructure post-translational modifications are poorly understood but altered epigenetic histone modifications are believed to be instrumental in influencing the chromatin remodeling in the parasite. Interestingly, the parasite also modulates gene expression of the hosts, thereby hijacking or dampening the host immune response. Epigenetic factor such as DNA methylation of cytosine residues has been incriminated in silencing of macrophage-specific genes responsible for defense against these parasites. Although there is dearth of information regarding the epigenetic alterations-mediated pathogenesis in these parasites and the host, the unique epigenetic marks may represent targets for potential anti-leishmanial drug candidates. This review circumscribes the epigenetic changes during Leishmania infection, and the epigenetic modifications they enforce upon the host cells to ensure a safe haven. The non-coding micro RNAs as post-transcriptional regulators and correlates of wound healing and toll-like receptor signaling, as well as prognostic biomarkers of therapeutic failure and healing time are also explored. Finally, we highlight the recent advances on how the epigenetic perturbations may impact leishmaniasis vaccine development as biomarkers of safety and immunogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farhat Afrin
- Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madina, Saudi Arabia
| | - Inbesat Khan
- Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, Bhopal, India
| | - Hassan A Hemeg
- Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madina, Saudi Arabia
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An Insight into the Constitutive Proteome Throughout Leishmania donovani Promastigote Growth and Differentiation. Int Microbiol 2018; 22:143-154. [DOI: 10.1007/s10123-018-00036-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2018] [Revised: 10/08/2018] [Accepted: 10/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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21
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Alonso A, Larraga V, Alcolea PJ. The contribution of DNA microarray technology to gene expression profiling in Leishmania spp.: A retrospective view. Acta Trop 2018; 187:129-139. [PMID: 29746872 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2018.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2018] [Revised: 05/04/2018] [Accepted: 05/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
The first completed genome project of any living organism, excluding viruses, was of the gammaproteobacteria Haemophilus influenzae in 1995. Until the last decade, genome sequencing was very tedious because genome survey sequences (GSS) and/or expressed sequence tags (ESTs) belonging to plasmid, cosmid, and artificial chromosome genome libraries had to be sequenced and assembled in silico. No genome is completely assembled because gaps and unassembled contigs are always remaining. However, most represent an organism's whole genome from a practical point of view. The first genome sequencing projects of trypanosomatid parasites Leishmania major, Trypanosoma cruzi, and T. brucei were completed in 2005 following those strategies. The functional genomics era developed on the basis of microarray technology and has been continuously evolving. In the case of the genus Leishmania, substantial information about differentiation in the digenetic life cycle of the parasite has been obtained. More recently, next generation sequencing has revolutionized genome sequencing and functional genomics, leading to more sensitive and accurate results by using much fewer resources. Though this new technology is more advantageous, it does not invalidate microarray results. In fact, promising vaccine candidates and drug targets have been found by means of microarray-based screening and preliminary proof-of-concept tests.
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Chen LF, Han XL, Li FX, Yao YY, Fang JP, Liu XJ, Li XC, Wu K, Liu M, Chen XG. Comparative studies of Toxoplasma gondii transcriptomes: insights into stage conversion based on gene expression profiling and alternative splicing. Parasit Vectors 2018; 11:402. [PMID: 29996885 PMCID: PMC6042387 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-018-2983-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most important apicomplexan parasites and infects one-third of the human population worldwide. Transformation between the tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages in the intermediate host is central to chronic infection and life-long risk. There have been some transcriptome studies on T. gondii; however, we are still early in our understanding of the kinds and levels of gene expression that occur during the conversion between stages. Results We used high-throughput RNA-sequencing data to assemble transcripts using genome-based and de novo strategies. The expression-level analysis of 6996 T. gondii genes showed that over half (3986) were significantly differentially expressed during stage conversion, whereas 2205 genes were upregulated, and 1778 genes were downregulated in tachyzoites compared with bradyzoites. Several important gene families were expressed at relatively high levels. Comprehensive functional annotation and gene ontology analysis revealed that stress response-related genes are important for survival of bradyzoites in immune-competent hosts. We compared Trinity-based de novo and genome-based strategies, and found that the de novo assembly strategy compensated for the defects of the genome-based strategy by filtering out several transcripts with low expression or those unannotated on the genome. We also found some inaccuracies in the ToxoDB gene models. In addition, our analysis revealed that alternative splicing can be differentially regulated in response to life-cycle change. In depth analysis revealed a 20-nt, AG-rich sequence, alternative splicing locus from alt_acceptor motif search in tachyzoite. Conclusion This study represents the first large-scale effort to sequence the transcriptome of bradyzoites from T. gondii tissue cysts. Our data provide a comparative view of the tachyzoite and bradyzoite transcriptomes to allow a more complete dissection of all the molecular regulation mechanisms during stage conversions. A better understanding of the processes regulating stage conversion may guide targeted interventions to disrupt the transmission of T. gondii. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-2983-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long-Fei Chen
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou North Avenue No.1838, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiao-Long Han
- Department of Bioinformatics, School of Basic Medicine School of Basic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Fen-Xiang Li
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou North Avenue No.1838, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Yun-Ying Yao
- Epidemiology and Infection Control Branch, Shenzhen Guangming District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, 518106, Guangdong, China
| | - Jin-Ping Fang
- First Clinical Medical College, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiao-Ju Liu
- First Clinical Medical College, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiao-Cong Li
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou North Avenue No.1838, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Kun Wu
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou North Avenue No.1838, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Min Liu
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou North Avenue No.1838, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China.
| | - Xiao-Guang Chen
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou North Avenue No.1838, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China.
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Sinha R, C MM, Raghwan, Das S, Das S, Shadab M, Chowdhury R, Tripathy S, Ali N. Genome Plasticity in Cultured Leishmania donovani: Comparison of Early and Late Passages. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:1279. [PMID: 30018594 PMCID: PMC6037818 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 05/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania donovani possesses a complex heteroxenic life cycle where infective metacyclic promastigotes are pre-adapted to infect their host and cope up with intracellular stress. Exploiting the similarities between cultured and sandfly derived promastigotes, we used early and late passage cultured promastigotes to show specific changes at genome level which compromise pathogen fitness reflected in gene expression and infection studies. The pathogen loses virulence mostly via transcriptional and translational regulations and long-time cultivation makes them struggle to convert to virulent metacyclics. At the genomic level very subtle plasticity was observed between the early and the late passages mostly in defense-related, nutrient acquisition and signal transduction genes. Chromosome Copy number variation is seen in the early and late passages involving several genes that may be playing a role in pathogenicity. Our study highlights the importance of ABC transporters and calpain like cysteine proteases in parasite virulence in cultured promastigotes. Interestingly, these proteins are emerging as important patho-adaptive factors in clinical isolates of Leishmania. We found that the currently available genome of Leishmania in the NCBI database are from late passages. Our early passage genome can act as a reference for future studies on virulent isolates of Leishmania. The annotated leads from this study can be used for virulence surveillance and therapeutic studies in the Indian subcontinent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roma Sinha
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
| | - Mathu Malar C
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India.,Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), New Delhi, India
| | - Raghwan
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
| | - Subhadeep Das
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India.,Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), New Delhi, India
| | - Sonali Das
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
| | - Mohammad Shadab
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
| | - Rukhsana Chowdhury
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
| | - Sucheta Tripathy
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India.,Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), New Delhi, India
| | - Nahid Ali
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
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24
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Azami M, Ranjkesh Adermanabadi V, Khanahmad H, Mohaghegh MA, Zaherinejad E, Aghaei M, Jalali A, Hejazi SH. Immunology and Genetic of Leishmania infantum: The Role of Endonuclease G in the Apoptosis. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN MEDICAL SCIENCES 2018; 23:36. [PMID: 29887904 PMCID: PMC5961285 DOI: 10.4103/jrms.jrms_705_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2017] [Revised: 01/13/2018] [Accepted: 01/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Leishmania infantum is the causative agent of infantile visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Mediterranean region. Despite developing protective responses, the disease progresses due to many of factors. These include the action of suppressive cytokines, exhaustion of specific T cells, loss of lymphoid tissue, and defective humoral response. Genetic changes that occur inside the genome of alienated or parasite cells, along with immune responses, play an important role in controlling or progressing the disease. Proapoptotic proteins such as Smac/DIABLO, EndoG, AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor), and cytochrome C are effective in apoptosis. EndoG is a mitochondrion-specific nuclease that translocates to the nucleus during apoptosis. Once released from mitochondria, endoG cleaves chromatin DNA into nucleosomal fragments independently of caspases. Therefore, endoG represents a caspase-independent apoptotic pathway initiated from the mitochondria. A comprehensive understanding of the immune and genetic events that occur during VL is very important for designing immunotherapy strategies and developing effective vaccines for disease prevention. In this review which explained the immunological responses and also the important factors that can contribute to parasite apoptosis and are used in subsequent studies as a target for the preparation of drugs or recombinant vaccines against parasites are briefly reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Azami
- Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | | | - Hossein Khanahmad
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Mohammad Ali Mohaghegh
- Department of Laboratory Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran.,Health Sciences Research Center, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran
| | - Ebtesam Zaherinejad
- School of Pharmacy, Department of Health Sciences, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley Campus, Australia
| | - Maryam Aghaei
- Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Akram Jalali
- Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Seyed Hossein Hejazi
- Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.,Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
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25
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Alcolea PJ, Alonso A, Baugh L, Paisie C, Ramasamy G, Sekar A, Sur A, Jiménez M, Molina R, Larraga V, Myler PJ. RNA-seq analysis reveals differences in transcript abundance between cultured and sand fly-derived Leishmania infantum promastigotes. Parasitol Int 2018; 67:476-480. [PMID: 29609036 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2018.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Revised: 03/13/2018] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Leishmania infantum is responsible for human and canine leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean basin, where the major vector is Phlebotomus perniciosus. Because isolation of sufficient parasites from the sand fly gut is technically challenging, axenic cultivation of promastigotes is routinely used to obtain material for biochemical and genetic analyses. Here, we report the use of Spliced Leader RNA-seq (SL-seq) to compare transcript abundance in cultured promastigotes and those obtained from the whole midgut of the sand fly 5 days after infection. SL-seq allows for amplification of RNA from the parasite avoiding contamination with RNA from the gut of the insect. The study has been performed by means of a single technical replicate comparing pools of samples obtained from sand fly-derived (sfPro) and axenic culture promastigotes (acPro). Although there was a moderate correlation (R2 = 0.83) in gene expression, 793 genes showed significantly different (≥2-fold, p <0.05) mRNA levels in sand fly-derived promastigotes and in culture, of which 31 were up-regulated ≥8-fold (p < 10-8 in most cases). These included several genes that are typically up-regulated during metacyclogenesis, suggesting that sand fly-derived promastigotes contain a substantial number of metacyclics, and/or that their differentiation status as metacyclics is more advanced in these populations. Infection experiments and studies evaluating the proportion of metacyclic promastigotes in culture and within the sand fly gut, previously reported by us, support the last hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro J Alcolea
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biology of Infections, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, Madrid 28040, Spain; Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), 307 Westlake Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA.
| | - Ana Alonso
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biology of Infections, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | - Loren Baugh
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), 307 Westlake Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA
| | - Carolyn Paisie
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), 307 Westlake Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA; Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, Box 358047, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Gowthaman Ramasamy
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), 307 Westlake Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA
| | - Aarthi Sekar
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), 307 Westlake Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA
| | - Aakash Sur
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), 307 Westlake Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA; Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, Box 358047, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Maribel Jiménez
- Unit of Medical Entomology, Service of Parasitology, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo s/n, Majadahonda 28220, Spain
| | - Ricardo Molina
- Unit of Medical Entomology, Service of Parasitology, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo s/n, Majadahonda 28220, Spain
| | - Vicente Larraga
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biology of Infections, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | - Peter J Myler
- Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), 307 Westlake Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA; Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, Box 358047, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Box 359931, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
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26
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Using proteomics as a powerful tool to develop a vaccine against Mediterranean visceral leishmaniasis. J Parasit Dis 2018; 42:162-170. [PMID: 29844618 DOI: 10.1007/s12639-018-0986-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Accepted: 03/12/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a tropical infectious disease, which is called Mediterranean visceral leishmaniasis (MVL) in the Mediterranean area. In spite of many attempts, no effective commercial vaccine exists for MVL. To find new targets for developing antileishmanial vaccines, knowing parasite antigens that provoke the immune system are on demand. Nowadays, proteomics methods are defined as approaches for analysis of protein profiling of different cells. Within this framework, detection of new antigens is becoming more facilitated. In this review, we aimed to introduce possible targets using proteomics so; they could be used as candidates for developing vaccines against MVL. It can shed new light in the near future on the development of promising vaccines for MVL.
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Deletion of transketolase triggers a stringent metabolic response in promastigotes and loss of virulence in amastigotes of Leishmania mexicana. PLoS Pathog 2018; 14:e1006953. [PMID: 29554142 PMCID: PMC5882173 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2016] [Revised: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 02/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Transketolase (TKT) is part of the non-oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). Here we describe the impact of removing this enzyme from the pathogenic protozoan Leishmania mexicana. Whereas the deletion had no obvious effect on cultured promastigote forms of the parasite, the Δtkt cells were not virulent in mice. Δtkt promastigotes were more susceptible to oxidative stress and various leishmanicidal drugs than wild-type, and metabolomics analysis revealed profound changes to metabolism in these cells. In addition to changes consistent with those directly related to the role of TKT in the PPP, central carbon metabolism was substantially decreased, the cells consumed significantly less glucose, flux through glycolysis diminished, and production of the main end products of metabolism was decreased. Only minor changes in RNA abundance from genes encoding enzymes in central carbon metabolism, however, were detected although fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase activity was decreased two-fold in the knock-out cell line. We also showed that the dual localisation of TKT between cytosol and glycosomes is determined by the C-terminus of the enzyme and by engineering different variants of the enzyme we could alter its sub-cellular localisation. However, no effect on the overall flux of glucose was noted irrespective of whether the enzyme was found uniquely in either compartment, or in both. Leishmania parasites endanger over 1 billion people worldwide, infecting 300,000 people and causing 20,000 deaths annually. In this study, we scrutinized metabolism in Leishmania mexicana after deletion of the gene encoding transketolase (TKT), an enzyme involved in sugar metabolism via the pentose phosphate pathway which plays key roles in creating ribose 5-phosphate for nucleotide synthesis and also defence against oxidative stress. The insect stage of the parasite, grown in culture medium, did not suffer from any obvious growth defect after the gene was deleted. However, its metabolism changed dramatically, with metabolomics indicating profound changes to flux through the pentose phosphate pathway: decreased glucose consumption, and generally enhanced efficiency in using metabolic substrates with reduced secretion of partially oxidised end products of metabolism. This ‘stringent’ metabolism is reminiscent of the mammalian stage parasites. The cells were also more sensitive to oxidative stress inducing agents and leishmanicidal drugs. Crucially, mice inoculated with the TKT knock-out parasites did not develop an infection pointing to the enzyme playing a key role in allowing the parasites to remain viable in the host, indicating that TKT may be considered a useful target for development of new drugs against leishmaniasis.
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28
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Understanding serine proteases implications on Leishmania spp lifecycle. Exp Parasitol 2018; 184:67-81. [DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2017.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2017] [Revised: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 11/20/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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The Eukaryotic Elongation Factor 1 Alpha (eEF1α) from the Parasite Leishmania infantum Is Modified with the Immunomodulatory Substituent Phosphorylcholine (PC). Molecules 2017; 22:molecules22122094. [PMID: 29186074 PMCID: PMC6149742 DOI: 10.3390/molecules22122094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2017] [Accepted: 11/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Proteins and glycolipids have been found to be decorated with phosphorylcholine (PC) both in protozoa and nematodes that parasitize humans and animals. PC epitopes can provoke various effects on immune cells leading to an immunomodulation of the host’s immune system that allows long-term persistence of the parasites. So far, only a limited number of PC-modified proteins, mainly from nematodes, have been identified. Infections caused by Leishmania spp. (e.g., L. infantum in southern Europe) affect about 12 million people worldwide and are characterized by a wide spectrum of clinical forms in humans, ranging from cutaneous to fatal visceral leishmaniasis. To establish and maintain the infection, these protozoa are dependent on the secretion of effector molecules into the host for modulating their immune system. In this project, we analyzed the PC modification of L. infantum promastigotes by 2D-gel based proteomics. Western blot analysis with the PC-specific antibody TEPC-15 revealed one PC-substituted protein in this organism, identified as eEF1α. We could demonstrate that the binding of eEF1α to one of its downstream effectors is dependent on its PC-modification. In this study we provide evidence that in this parasite the modification of eEF1α with PC may be essential for its function as an important virulence factor.
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30
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Rationale for selection of developmentally regulated genes as vaccine candidates against Leishmania infantum infection. Vaccine 2016; 34:5474-5478. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.08.081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2016] [Revised: 08/24/2016] [Accepted: 08/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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31
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Increased Abundance of Proteins Involved in Resistance to Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress at the Last Stages of Growth and Development of Leishmania amazonensis Promastigotes Revealed by Proteome Analysis. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0164344. [PMID: 27776144 PMCID: PMC5077082 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2015] [Accepted: 09/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania amazonensis is one of the major etiological agents of the neglected, stigmatizing disease termed american cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL). ACL is a zoonosis and rodents are the main reservoirs. Most cases of ACL are reported in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. The biological cycle of the parasite is digenetic because sand fly vectors transmit the motile promastigote stage to the mammalian host dermis during blood meal intakes. The amastigote stage survives within phagocytes of the mammalian host. The purpose of this study is detection and identification of changes in protein abundance by 2DE/MALDI-TOF/TOF at the main growth phases of L. amazonensis promastigotes in axenic culture and the differentiation process that takes place simultaneously. The average number of proteins detected per gel is 202 and the non-redundant cumulative number is 339. Of those, 63 are differentially abundant throughout growth and simultaneous differentiation of L. amazonensis promastigotes. The main finding is that certain proteins involved in resistance to nitrosative and oxidative stress are more abundant at the last stages of growth and differentiation of cultured L. amazonensis promastigotes. These proteins are the arginase, a light variant of the tryparedoxin peroxidase, the iron superoxide dismutase, the regulatory subunit of the protein kinase A and a light HSP70 variant. These data taken together with the decrease of the stress-inducible protein 1 levels are additional evidence supporting the previously described pre-adaptative hypothesis, which consists of preparation in advance towards the amastigote stage.
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Proteome profiling of the growth phases of Leishmania pifanoi promastigotes in axenic culture reveals differential abundance of immunostimulatory proteins. Acta Trop 2016; 158:240-247. [PMID: 26992294 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2016.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2015] [Revised: 02/28/2016] [Accepted: 03/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a term that encompasses a compendium of neglected tropical diseases caused by dimorphic and digenetic protozoan parasites from the genus Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). The clinical manifestations of neotropical cutaneous leishmaniasis (NCL) caused by Leishmania pifanoi and other species of the "Leishmania mexicana complex" mainly correspond to anergic diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (ADCL), which is the origin of considerable morbidity. Despite the outstanding advances in the characterization of the trypanosomatid genomes and proteomes, the biology of this species has been scarcely explored. However, the close relation of L. pifanoi to the sequenced species L. mexicana and others included in the "L. mexicana complex" allowed us to perform a two-dimension electrophoresis (2DE) approach to the promastigote proteome at the differential expression level. Protein identifications were performed by matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF). This insight has revealed similarities and differences between L. pifanoi and other species responsible for cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. Interestingly, certain proteins that were previously described as immunostimulatory (elongation factor 1β, trypanothione peroxidase, heat shock protein 70, enolase, GDP-forming succinyl-CoA and aldehyde dehydrogenase) are more abundant in the final growth stages of promastigotes (late-logarithmic and/or stationary phase) in the case of L. pifanoi.
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Alcolea PJ, Alonso A, Degayón MA, Moreno-Paz M, Jiménez M, Molina R, Larraga V. In vitro infectivity and differential gene expression of Leishmania infantum metacyclic promastigotes: negative selection with peanut agglutinin in culture versus isolation from the stomodeal valve of Phlebotomus perniciosus. BMC Genomics 2016; 17:375. [PMID: 27206922 PMCID: PMC4874012 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-2672-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2015] [Accepted: 04/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Leishmania infantum is the protozoan parasite responsible for zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean basin. A recent outbreak in humans has been reported in this area. The life cycle of the parasite is digenetic. The promastigote stage develops within the gut of phlebotomine sand flies, whereas amastigotes survive and multiply within phagolysosomes of mammalian host phagocytes. The major vector of L. infantum in Spain is Phlebotomus perniciosus. The axenic culture model of promastigotes is generally used because it is able to mimic the conditions of the natural environment (i.e. the sand fly vector gut). However, infectivity decreases with culture passages and infection of laboratory animals is frequently required. Enrichment of the stationary phase population in highly infective metacyclic promastigotes is achieved by negative selection with peanut agglutinin (PNA), which is possible only in certain Leishmania species such as L. major and L. infantum. In this study, in vitro infectivity and differential gene expression of cultured PNA-negative promastigotes (Pro-PNA−) and metacyclic promastigotes isolated from the sand fly anterior thoracic midgut (Pro-Pper) have been compared. Results In vitro infectivity is about 30 % higher in terms of rate of infected cells and number of amastigotes per infected cell in Pro-Pper than in Pro-PNA−. This finding is in agreement with up-regulation of a leishmanolysin gene (gp63) and genes involved in biosynthesis of glycosylinositolphospholipids (GIPL), lipophosphoglycan (LPG) and proteophosphoglycan (PPG) in Pro-Pper. In addition, differences between Pro-Pper and Pro-PNA− in genes involved in important cellular processes (e.g. signaling and regulation of gene expression) have been found. Conclusions Pro-Pper are significantly more infective than peanut lectin non-agglutinating ones. Therefore, negative selection with PNA is an appropriate method for isolating metacyclic promastigotes in stationary phase of axenic culture but it does not allow reaching the in vitro infectivity levels of Pro-Pper. Indeed, GIPL, LPG and PPG biosynthetic genes together with a gp63 gene are up-regulated in Pro-Pper and interestingly, the correlation coefficient between both transcriptomes in terms of transcript abundance is R2 = 0.68. This means that the correlation is sufficiently high to consider that both samples are physiologically comparable (i.e. the experiment was correctly designed and performed) and sufficiently low to conclude that important differences in transcript abundance have been found. Therefore, the implications of axenic culture should be evaluated case-by-case in each experimental design even when the stationary phase population in culture is enriched in metacyclic promastigotes by negative selection with PNA. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2672-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro J Alcolea
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Ana Alonso
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - María A Degayón
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mercedes Moreno-Paz
- Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular, Centro de Astrobiología, (Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial "Esteban Terradas"-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), ctra. de Ajalvir Km 4, 28850, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Maribel Jiménez
- Unidad de Entomología Médica, Servicio de Parasitología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias (Instituto de Salud Carlos III), ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo s/n, 28220, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ricardo Molina
- Unidad de Entomología Médica, Servicio de Parasitología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias (Instituto de Salud Carlos III), ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo s/n, 28220, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Vicente Larraga
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040, Madrid, Spain
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34
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Alcolea PJ, Alonso A, Domínguez M, Parro V, Jiménez M, Molina R, Larraga V. Influence of the Microenvironment in the Transcriptome of Leishmania infantum Promastigotes: Sand Fly versus Culture. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016; 10:e0004693. [PMID: 27163123 PMCID: PMC4862625 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2015] [Accepted: 04/14/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by Leishmania infantum in the Mediterranean Basin, where domestic dogs and wild canids are the main reservoirs. The promastigote stage replicates and develops within the gut of blood-sucking phlebotomine sand flies. Mature promastigotes are injected in the dermis of the mammalian host and differentiate into the amastigote stage within parasitophorous vacuoles of phagocytic cells. The major vector of L. infantum in Spain is Phlebotomus perniciosus. Promastigotes are routinely axenized and cultured to mimic in vitro the conditions inside the insect gut, which allows for most molecular, cellular, immunological and therapeutical studies otherwise inviable. Culture passages are known to decrease infectivity, which is restored by passage through laboratory animals. The most appropriate source of promastigotes is the gut of the vector host but isolation of the parasite is technically challenging. In fact, this option is not viable unless small samples are sufficient for downstream applications like promastigote cultures and nucleic acid amplification. In this study, in vitro infectivity and differential gene expression have been studied in cultured promastigotes at the stationary phase and in promastigotes isolated from the stomodeal valve of the sand fly P. perniciosus. About 20 ng RNA per sample could be isolated. Each sample contained L. infantum promastigotes from 20 sand flies. RNA was successfully amplified and processed for shotgun genome microarray hybridization analysis. Most differentially regulated genes are involved in regulation of gene expression, intracellular signaling, amino acid metabolism and biosynthesis of surface molecules. Interestingly, meta-analysis by hierarchical clustering supports that up-regulation of 22.4% of the differentially regulated genes is specifically enhanced by the microenvironment (i.e. sand fly gut or culture). The correlation between cultured and naturally developed promastigotes is strong but not very high (Pearson coefficient R2 = 0.727). Therefore, the influence of promastigote culturing should be evaluated case-by-case in experimentation. The protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum causes visceral leishmaniasis in humans and is responsible for a recent outbreak reported in central Spain. Domestic dogs and wild canids are the main reservoirs. The life cycle of the parasite involves two stages and two hosts. The motile promastigote stage differentiates within the gut of the sand fly vector host and develops into non-motile amastigotes within phagocytes of the mammalian host. Promastigotes are routinely cultured in liquid media because it is assumed that they mimic the conditions within the gut of the insect. Therefore, the culture model is used in most studies about the biology of the parasite, pathogenesis and development of vaccines and new compounds for treatment. Isolating promastigotes from the natural microenvironment (i.e. the vector host) is desirable but technically challenging. We were able to perform a high-throughput analysis of gene expression thanks to mRNA amplification. The over-expressed genes detected may influence life cycle progression depending on the promastigote microenvironment (i.e. culture or vector host). Upcoming studies based on these results may reveal new therapeutic targets or vaccine candidates. Our results suggest that evaluating the influence of cultures in experimentation is convenient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro J. Alcolea
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Ana Alonso
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mercedes Domínguez
- Unidad de Inmunología Microbiana, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Víctor Parro
- Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular, Centro de Astrobiología, Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial “Esteban Terradas”—Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Maribel Jiménez
- Unidad de Entomología Médica, Servicio de Parasitología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ricardo Molina
- Unidad de Entomología Médica, Servicio de Parasitología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Vicente Larraga
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
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Alcolea PJ, Alonso A, Moreno-Izquierdo MA, Degayón MA, Moreno I, Larraga V. Serum Removal from Culture Induces Growth Arrest, Ploidy Alteration, Decrease in Infectivity and Differential Expression of Crucial Genes in Leishmania infantum Promastigotes. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0150172. [PMID: 26959417 PMCID: PMC4784933 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Accepted: 02/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania infantum is one of the species responsible for visceral leishmaniasis. This species is distributed basically in the Mediterranean basin. A recent outbreak in humans has been reported in Spain. Axenic cultures are performed for most procedures with Leishmania spp. promastigotes. This model is stable and reproducible and mimics the conditions of the gut of the sand fly host, which is the natural environment of promastigote development. Culture media are undefined because they contain mammalian serum, which is a rich source of complex lipids and proteins. Serum deprivation slows down the growth kinetics and therefore, yield in biomass. In fact, we have confirmed that the growth rate decreases, as well as infectivity. Ploidy is also affected. Regarding the transcriptome, a high-throughput approach has revealed a low differential expression rate but important differentially regulated genes. The most remarkable profiles are: up-regulation of the GINS Psf3, the fatty acyl-CoA synthase (FAS1), the glyoxylase I (GLO1), the hydrophilic surface protein B (HASPB), the methylmalonyl-CoA epimerase (MMCE) and an amastin gene; and down-regulation of the gPEPCK and the arginase. Implications for metabolic adaptations, differentiation and infectivity are discussed herein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro J. Alcolea
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biology of Infections, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CIB-CSIC), Madrid. Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Ana Alonso
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biology of Infections, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CIB-CSIC), Madrid. Spain
| | - Miguel A. Moreno-Izquierdo
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biology of Infections, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CIB-CSIC), Madrid. Spain
| | - María A. Degayón
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biology of Infections, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CIB-CSIC), Madrid. Spain
| | - Inmaculada Moreno
- Unit of Microbial Immunology, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Virología e Inmunología Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CNM-ISCIII), Majadahonda, Spain
| | - Vicente Larraga
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biology of Infections, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CIB-CSIC), Madrid. Spain
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Fiebig M, Kelly S, Gluenz E. Comparative Life Cycle Transcriptomics Revises Leishmania mexicana Genome Annotation and Links a Chromosome Duplication with Parasitism of Vertebrates. PLoS Pathog 2015; 11:e1005186. [PMID: 26452044 PMCID: PMC4599935 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2015] [Accepted: 09/03/2015] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmania spp. are protozoan parasites that have two principal life cycle stages: the motile promastigote forms that live in the alimentary tract of the sandfly and the amastigote forms, which are adapted to survive and replicate in the harsh conditions of the phagolysosome of mammalian macrophages. Here, we used Illumina sequencing of poly-A selected RNA to characterise and compare the transcriptomes of L. mexicana promastigotes, axenic amastigotes and intracellular amastigotes. These data allowed the production of the first transcriptome evidence-based annotation of gene models for this species, including genome-wide mapping of trans-splice sites and poly-A addition sites. The revised genome annotation encompassed 9,169 protein-coding genes including 936 novel genes as well as modifications to previously existing gene models. Comparative analysis of gene expression across promastigote and amastigote forms revealed that 3,832 genes are differentially expressed between promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes. A large proportion of genes that were downregulated during differentiation to amastigotes were associated with the function of the motile flagellum. In contrast, those genes that were upregulated included cell surface proteins, transporters, peptidases and many uncharacterized genes, including 293 of the 936 novel genes. Genome-wide distribution analysis of the differentially expressed genes revealed that the tetraploid chromosome 30 is highly enriched for genes that were upregulated in amastigotes, providing the first evidence of a link between this whole chromosome duplication event and adaptation to the vertebrate host in this group. Peptide evidence for 42 proteins encoded by novel transcripts supports the idea of an as yet uncharacterised set of small proteins in Leishmania spp. with possible implications for host-pathogen interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Fiebig
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Steven Kelly
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (SK); (EG)
| | - Eva Gluenz
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (SK); (EG)
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Cantacessi C, Dantas-Torres F, Nolan MJ, Otranto D. The past, present, and future of Leishmania genomics and transcriptomics. Trends Parasitol 2015; 31:100-8. [PMID: 25638444 PMCID: PMC4356521 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2014.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2014] [Revised: 12/22/2014] [Accepted: 12/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
It has been nearly 10 years since the completion of the first entire genome sequence of a Leishmania parasite. Genomic and transcriptomic analyses have advanced our understanding of the biology of Leishmania, and shed new light on the complex interactions occurring within the parasite-host-vector triangle. Here, we review these advances and examine potential avenues for translation of these discoveries into treatment and control programs. In addition, we argue for a strong need to explore how disease in dogs relates to that in humans, and how an improved understanding in line with the 'One Health' concept may open new avenues for the control of these devastating diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cinzia Cantacessi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Filipe Dantas-Torres
- Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Fiocruz-PE, Brazil; Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Bari, Italy
| | - Matthew J Nolan
- Royal Veterinary College, University of London, North Mymms, UK
| | - Domenico Otranto
- Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Bari, Italy
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An Insight into the proteome of Crithidia fasciculata choanomastigotes as a comparative approach to axenic growth, peanut lectin agglutination and differentiation of Leishmania spp. promastigotes. PLoS One 2014; 9:e113837. [PMID: 25503511 PMCID: PMC4263474 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2014] [Accepted: 10/31/2014] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The life cycle of the trypanosomatid Crithidia fasciculata is monogenetic, as the unique hosts of these parasites are different species of culicids. The comparison of these non-pathogenic microorganisms evolutionary close to other species of trypanosomatids that develop digenetic life cycles and cause chronic severe sickness to millions of people worldwide is of outstanding interest. A ground-breaking analysis of differential protein abundance in Crithidia fasciculata is reported herein. The comparison of the outcome with previous gene expression profiling studies developed in the related human pathogens of the genus Leishmania has revealed substantial differences between the motile stages of these closely related organisms in abundance of proteins involved in catabolism, redox homeostasis, intracellular signalling, and gene expression regulation. As L. major and L. infantum agglutinate with peanut lectin and non-agglutinating parasites are more infective, the agglutination properties were evaluated in C. fasciculata. The result is that choanomastigotes are able to agglutinate with peanut lectin and a non-agglutinating subpopulation can be also isolated. As a difference with L. infantum, the non-agglutinating subpopulation over-expresses the whole machinery for maintenance of redox homeostasis and the translation factors eIF5a, EF1α and EF2, what suggests a relationship between the lack of agglutination and a differentiation process.
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Alcolea PJ, Alonso A, Gómez MJ, Postigo M, Molina R, Jiménez M, Larraga V. Stage-specific differential gene expression in Leishmania infantum: from the foregut of Phlebotomus perniciosus to the human phagocyte. BMC Genomics 2014; 15:849. [PMID: 25281593 PMCID: PMC4203910 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2014] [Accepted: 09/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Leishmania infantum is the etiological agent of zoonotical visceral leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean basin. A recent outbreak in humans has been recently reported in central Spain. Leishmania spp. parasites are transmitted to the mammalian host by the bite of sand flies. The primary vector of L. infantum in Spain is Phlebotomus perniciosus. For decades, research on these parasites has involved the axenic culture model of the promastigote stage including gene expression profiling studies performed in the post-genome era. Unlike the controversial axenic culturing of amastigotes, promastigote cultures are generally accepted and used, although with the precaution of avoiding excessive culture passage. The primary objective of this differentiation study is to compare the gene expression profiles of promastigotes isolated from the foregut of the sand fly and amastigotes. For this purpose, P. perniciosus sand flies were infected with L. infantum and differentiated promastigotes were extracted by dissection of the foreguts. Shotgun DNA microarray hybridization analyses allowed for transcriptome comparison of these promastigotes with amastigotes obtained by infection of the U937 cell line. The results have been compared with those described in published expression analyses using axenic promastigotes. Results A total of 277 up-regulated genes were found through this hybridization experiment. The comparison of these particular results with published gene expression profile analyses performed using the same experimental procedure to study cultured promastigotes in stationary phase versus amastigotes revealed considerable differences (approximately 95% of the up-regulated genes were different). We found that the up-regulation rate is lower in amastigotes than in sand fly-derived promastigotes, which is in agreement with the over-expression of genes involved in gene expression regulation and signaling in those promastigote populations. Conclusions The up-regulation rate is lower in intracellular amastigotes than in promastigotes obtained from the sand fly gut. This was also reported by us using the promastigote culture model and is an evidence for the hypothesis of promastigote preadaptation towards life in the intracellular environment. Regarding transcript abundance, the set of differentially regulated genes is notably different when using promastigotes from the sand fly foregut instead of axenic cultures. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-849) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro J Alcolea
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Biología de las Infecciones, Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
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Moreno MA, Alonso A, Alcolea PJ, Abramov A, de Lacoba MG, Abendroth J, Zhang S, Edwards T, Lorimer D, Myler PJ, Larraga V. Tyrosine aminotransferase from Leishmania infantum: A new drug target candidate. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2014; 4:347-54. [PMID: 25516846 PMCID: PMC4266777 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2014.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
The tyrosine aminotransferase from Leishmania infantum has a cytoplasmic distribution and is able to use the oxoacid ketomethiobutyrate, as a co-substrate. L. infantum tyrosine aminotransferase is over-expressed in infective and nitric oxide resistant parasites. The structural differences with the mammalian TAT, together with cellular distribution, expression pattern and activity, support that LiTAT is a drug target candidate. The structure-based model of the pharmacophore of LiTAT with specific substrate ketomethiobutyrate has been generated.
Leishmania infantum is the etiological agent of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean basin. The disease is fatal without treatment, which has been based on antimonial pentavalents for more than 60 years. Due to resistances, relapses and toxicity to current treatment, the development of new drugs is required. The structure of the L. infantum tyrosine aminotransferase (LiTAT) has been recently solved showing important differences with the mammalian orthologue. The characterization of LiTAT is reported herein. This enzyme is cytoplasmic and is over-expressed in the more infective stages and nitric oxide resistant parasites. Unlike the mammalian TAT, LiTAT is able to use ketomethiobutyrate as co-substrate. The pharmacophore model of LiTAT with this specific co-substrate is described herein. This may allow the identification of new inhibitors present in the databases. All the data obtained support that LiTAT is a good target candidate for the development of new anti-leishmanial drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Angel Moreno
- Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Servicio de Bioinformática y Bioestadística, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Alonso
- Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Servicio de Bioinformática y Bioestadística, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Pedro Jose Alcolea
- Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Servicio de Bioinformática y Bioestadística, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ariel Abramov
- Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), USA ; Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, 307 Westlake Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Mario García de Lacoba
- Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Servicio de Bioinformática y Bioestadística, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Jan Abendroth
- Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), USA ; Emerald Bio Inc., 7869 NE Day Road West, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, USA
| | - Sunny Zhang
- Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), USA ; Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, 307 Westlake Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Thomas Edwards
- Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), USA ; Emerald Bio Inc., 7869 NE Day Road West, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, USA
| | - Don Lorimer
- Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), USA ; Emerald Bio Inc., 7869 NE Day Road West, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, USA
| | - Peter John Myler
- Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), USA ; Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, 307 Westlake Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA ; Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98125, USA ; Department of Biomedical Informatics & Medical Education, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98125, USA
| | - Vicente Larraga
- Departamento de Microbiología Molecular y Servicio de Bioinformática y Bioestadística, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
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Abstract
A decade of genome sequencing has transformed our understanding of how
trypanosomatid parasites have evolved and provided fresh impetus to explaining
the origins of parasitism in the Kinetoplastida. In this review, I will consider
the many ways in which genome sequences have influenced our view of genomic
reduction in trypanosomatids; how species-specific genes, and the genomic
domains they occupy, have illuminated the innovations in trypanosomatid genomes;
and how comparative genomics has exposed the molecular mechanisms responsible
for innovation and adaptation to a parasitic lifestyle.
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Vanaerschot M, Dumetz F, Roy S, Ponte-Sucre A, Arevalo J, Dujardin JC. Treatment failure in leishmaniasis: drug-resistance or another (epi-) phenotype? Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 2014; 12:937-46. [PMID: 24802998 DOI: 10.1586/14787210.2014.916614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Two major leishmaniasis treatments have shown a significant decrease in effectiveness in the last few decades, mostly in the Indian subcontinent but also in other endemic areas. Drug resistance of Leishmania correlated only partially to treatment failure (TF) of pentavalent antimonials, and has so far proved not to be important for the increased miltefosine relapse rates observed in the Indian subcontinent. While other patient- or drug-related factors could also have played a role, recent studies identified several parasite features such as infectivity and host manipulation skills that might contribute to TF. This perspective aims to discuss how different parasitic features other than drug resistance can contribute to TF of leishmaniasis and how this may vary between different epidemiological contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manu Vanaerschot
- Molecular Parasitology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerpen, Belgium
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Fernandes AP, Canavaci AMC, McCall LI, Matlashewski G. A2 and other visceralizing proteins of Leishmania: role in pathogenesis and application for vaccine development. Subcell Biochem 2014; 74:77-101. [PMID: 24264241 DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-7305-9_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis is a re-emergent disease and a significant cause of morbidity worldwide. Amongst the more than 20 Leishmania species, Leishmania donovani, Leishmania infantum and more rarely Leishmania amazonensis are associated with visceral leishmaniasis. A major question in leishmaniasis research is how these species migrate to and infect visceral organs whereas other species such as Leishmania major and Leishmania braziliensis remain in the skin, causing tegumentary leishmaniasis. Here we present the more recent advances and approaches towards the identification of species-specific visceralizing factors of Leishmania, such as the A2 protein, leading to a better understanding of parasite biology. We also discuss their potential use for the development of a vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Paula Fernandes
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Campus Pampulha, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270901, Brazil,
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Ehrenkaufer GM, Weedall GD, Williams D, Lorenzi HA, Caler E, Hall N, Singh U. The genome and transcriptome of the enteric parasite Entamoeba invadens, a model for encystation. Genome Biol 2013; 14:R77. [PMID: 23889909 PMCID: PMC4053983 DOI: 10.1186/gb-2013-14-7-r77] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2013] [Accepted: 07/26/2013] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Several eukaryotic parasites form cysts that transmit infection. The process is found in diverse organisms such as Toxoplasma, Giardia, and nematodes. In Entamoeba histolytica this process cannot be induced in vitro, making it difficult to study. In Entamoeba invadens, stage conversion can be induced, but its utility as a model system to study developmental biology has been limited by a lack of genomic resources. We carried out genome and transcriptome sequencing of E. invadens to identify molecular processes involved in stage conversion. Results We report the sequencing and assembly of the E. invadens genome and use whole transcriptome sequencing to characterize changes in gene expression during encystation and excystation. The E. invadens genome is larger than that of E. histolytica, apparently largely due to expansion of intergenic regions; overall gene number and the machinery for gene regulation are conserved between the species. Over half the genes are regulated during the switch between morphological forms and a key signaling molecule, phospholipase D, appears to regulate encystation. We provide evidence for the occurrence of meiosis during encystation, suggesting that stage conversion may play a key role in recombination between strains. Conclusions Our analysis demonstrates that a number of core processes are common to encystation between distantly related parasites, including meiosis, lipid signaling and RNA modification. These data provide a foundation for understanding the developmental cascade in the important human pathogen E. histolytica and highlight conserved processes more widely relevant in enteric pathogens.
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Alpha tubulin genes from Leishmania braziliensis: genomic organization, gene structure and insights on their expression. BMC Genomics 2013; 14:454. [PMID: 23829570 PMCID: PMC3708823 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-14-454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2013] [Accepted: 06/19/2013] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Alpha tubulin is a fundamental component of the cytoskeleton which is responsible for cell shape and is involved in cell division, ciliary and flagellar motility and intracellular transport. Alpha tubulin gene expression varies according to the morphological changes suffered by Leishmania in its life cycle. However, the objective of studying the mechanisms responsible for the differential expression has resulted to be a difficult task due to the complex genome organization of tubulin genes and to the non-conventional mechanisms of gene regulation operating in Leishmania. Results We started this work by analyzing the genomic organization of α-tubulin genes in the Leishmania braziliensis genome database. The genomic organization of L. braziliensis α-tubulin genes differs from that existing in the L. major and L. infantum genomes. Two loci containing α-tubulin genes were found in the chromosomes 13 and 29, even though the existence of sequence gaps does not allow knowing the exact number of genes at each locus. Southern blot assays showed that α-tubulin locus at chromosome 13 contains at least 8 gene copies, which are tandemly organized with a 2.08-kb repetition unit; the locus at chromosome 29 seems to contain a sole α-tubulin gene. In addition, it was found that L. braziliensis α-tubulin locus at chromosome 13 contains two types of α-tubulin genes differing in their 3′ UTR, each one presumably containing different regulatory motifs. It was also determined that the mRNA expression levels of these genes are controlled by post-transcriptional mechanisms tightly linked to the growth temperature. Moreover, the decrease in the α-tubulin mRNA abundance observed when promastigotes were cultured at 35°C was accompanied by parasite morphology alterations, similar to that occurring during the promastigote to amastigote differentiation. Conclusions Information found in the genome databases indicates that α-tubulin genes have been reorganized in a drastic manner along Leishmania speciation. In the L. braziliensis genome database, two loci containing α-tubulin sequences were found, but only the locus at chromosome 13 contains the prototypic α-tubulin genes, which are repeated in a head-to-tail manner. Also, we determined that the levels of α-tubulin mRNAs are down-regulated drastically in response to heat shock by a post-transcriptional mechanism which is dependent upon active protein synthesis.
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Abstract
Leishmaniasis, like other neglected diseases is characterized by a small arsenal of drugs for its control. To safeguard the efficacy of current drugs and guide the development of new ones it is thus of utmost importance to acquire a deep understanding of the phenomenon of drug resistance and its link with treatment outcome. We discuss here how (post-)genomic approaches may contribute to this purpose. We highlight the need for a clear definition of the phenotypes under consideration: innate and acquired resistance versus treatment failure. We provide a recent update of our knowledge on the Leishmania genome structure and dynamics, and compare the contribution of targeted and untargeted methods for the understanding of drug resistance and show their limits. We also present the main assays allowing the experimental validation of the genes putatively involved in drug resistance. The importance of analysing information downstream of the genome is stressed and further illustrated by recent metabolomics findings. Finally, the attention is called onto the challenges for implementing the acquired knowledge to the benefit of the patients and the population at risk.
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Berg M, Vanaerschot M, Jankevics A, Cuypers B, Breitling R, Dujardin JC. LC-MS metabolomics from study design to data-analysis - using a versatile pathogen as a test case. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2013; 4:e201301002. [PMID: 24688684 PMCID: PMC3962178 DOI: 10.5936/csbj.201301002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2012] [Revised: 12/13/2012] [Accepted: 12/24/2012] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Thanks to significant improvements in LC-MS technology, metabolomics is increasingly used as a tool to discriminate the responses of organisms to various stimuli or drugs. In this minireview we discuss all aspects of the LC-MS metabolomics pipeline, using a complex and versatile model organism, Leishmania donovani, as an illustrative example. The benefits of a hyphenated mass spectrometry platform and a detailed overview of the entire experimental pipeline from sampling, sample storage and sample list set-up to LC-MS measurements and the generation of meaningful results with state-of-the-art data-analysis software will be thoroughly discussed. Finally, we also highlight important pitfalls in the processing of LC-MS data and comment on the benefits of implementing metabolomics in a systems biology approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Berg
- Unit of Molecular Parasitology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Manu Vanaerschot
- Unit of Molecular Parasitology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Andris Jankevics
- Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Joseph Black Building B3.10, G11 8QQ Glasgow, UK ; Groningen Bioinformatics Centre, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands ; Faculty of Life Sciences, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, UK
| | - Bart Cuypers
- Unit of Molecular Parasitology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Rainer Breitling
- Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Joseph Black Building B3.10, G11 8QQ Glasgow, UK ; Groningen Bioinformatics Centre, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands ; Faculty of Life Sciences, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, UK
| | - Jean-Claude Dujardin
- Unit of Molecular Parasitology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium ; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
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Cordeiro AT, Feliciano PR, Pinheiro MP, Nonato MC. Crystal structure of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase from Leishmania major. Biochimie 2012; 94:1739-48. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2012.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2012] [Accepted: 04/03/2012] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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Abstract
Parasitic protozoa belonging to the genus Leishmania are the cause of a spectrum of diseases in humans, as well as chronic long-term infections. These parasites exhibit a remarkable capacity to survive and proliferate within the phagolysosome compartment of host macrophages. Studies with defined Leishmania mutants in mouse models of infection have highlighted processes that are required for parasite survival in macrophages. Parasite mutants have been identified that (i) are poorly virulent when the insect (promastigote) stage is used to initiate infection, but retain wild-type virulence following transformation to the obligate intracellular amastigote stage, (ii) are highly attenuated when either promastigotes or amastigotes are used, and (iii) are unable to induce characteristic lesion granulomas, but can persist within macrophages in other tissues. From these analyses it can be concluded that promastigote stages of some species require the surface expression of lipophosphoglycan, but not other surface components. Survival and subsequent proliferation of Leishmania in macrophages requires the activation of heat-shock responses (involving the up-regulation and/or phosphorylation of heat-shock proteins), the presence of oxidative and nitrosative defence mechanisms, and uptake and catabolism of carbon sources (glycoproteins, hexoses and amino acids) and essential nutrients (purines, amino acids and vitamins). Parasite mutants with defects in specific kinase/phosphatase-dependent signalling pathways are also severely attenuated in amastigote virulence, highlighting the potential importance of post-translational regulatory mechanisms in parasite adaptation to this host niche.
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Application of serial analysis of gene expression to the study of the gene expression profile of Leishmania infantum chagasi promastigote. J Biomed Biotechnol 2012; 2012:673458. [PMID: 22570533 PMCID: PMC3336188 DOI: 10.1155/2012/673458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2011] [Accepted: 11/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
This study describes the application of the LongSAGE methodology to study the gene expression profile in promastigotes of Leishmania infantum chagasi. A tag library was created using the LongSAGE method and consisted of 14,208 tags of 17 bases. Of these, 8,427 (59.3%) were distinct. BLAST research of the 1,645 most abundant tags showed that 12.8% of them identified the coding sequences of genes, while 82% (1,349/1,645) identified one or more genomic sequences that did not correspond with open reading frames. Only 5.2% (84/1,645) of the tags were not aligned to any position in the L. infantum genome. The UTR size of Leishmania and the lack of CATG sites in some transcripts were decisive for the generation of tags in these regions. Additional analysis will allow a better understanding of the expression profile and discovering the key genes in this life cycle.
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