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Schaub GA. Interaction of Trypanosoma cruzi, Triatomines and the Microbiota of the Vectors-A Review. Microorganisms 2024; 12:855. [PMID: 38792688 PMCID: PMC11123833 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12050855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2024] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
This review summarizes the interactions between Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, its vectors, triatomines, and the diverse intestinal microbiota of triatomines, which includes mutualistic symbionts, and highlights open questions. T. cruzi strains show great biological heterogeneity in their development and their interactions. Triatomines differ from other important vectors of diseases in their ontogeny and the enzymes used to digest blood. Many different bacteria colonize the intestinal tract of triatomines, but only Actinomycetales have been identified as mutualistic symbionts. Effects of the vector on T. cruzi are indicated by differences in the ability of T. cruzi to establish in the triatomines and in colonization peculiarities, i.e., proliferation mainly in the posterior midgut and rectum and preferential transformation into infectious metacyclic trypomastigotes in the rectum. In addition, certain forms of T. cruzi develop after feeding and during starvation of triatomines. Negative effects of T. cruzi on the triatomine vectors appear to be particularly evident when the triatomines are stressed and depend on the T. cruzi strain. Effects on the intestinal immunity of the triatomines are induced by ingested blood-stage trypomastigotes of T. cruzi and affect the populations of many non-symbiotic intestinal bacteria, but not all and not the mutualistic symbionts. After the knockdown of antimicrobial peptides, the number of non-symbiotic bacteria increases and the number of T. cruzi decreases. Presumably, in long-term infections, intestinal immunity is suppressed, which supports the growth of specific bacteria, depending on the strain of T. cruzi. These interactions may provide an approach to disrupt T. cruzi transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Günter A Schaub
- Zoology/Parasitology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany
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Alejandro AD, Lilia JP, Jesús MB, Henry RM. The IMD and Toll canonical immune pathways of Triatoma pallidipennis are preferentially activated by Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively, but cross-activation also occurs. Parasit Vectors 2022; 15:256. [PMID: 35821152 PMCID: PMC9277830 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-022-05363-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) participate in the humoral immune response of insects eliminating invasive microorganisms. The immune deficiency pathway (IMD) and Toll are the main pathways by which the synthesis of these molecules is regulated in response to Gram-negative (IMD pathway) or Gram-positive (Toll pathway) bacteria. Various pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) participate in the recognition of microorganisms, such as pgrp-lc and toll, which trigger signaling cascades and activate NF-κB family transcription factors, such as relish, that translocate to the cell nucleus, mainly in the fat body, inducing AMP gene transcription. METHODS T. pallidipennis inhibited in Tppgrp-lc, Tptoll, and Tprelish were challenged with E. coli and M. luteus to analyze the expression of AMPs transcripts in the fat body and to execute survival assays. RESULTS In this work we investigated the participation of the pgrp-lc and toll receptor genes and the relish transcription factor (designated as Tppgrp-lc, Tptoll, and Tprelish), in the transcriptional regulation of defensin B, prolixicin, and lysozyme B in Triatoma pallidipennis, one of the main vectors of Chagas disease. AMP transcript abundance was higher in the fat body of blood-fed than non-fed bugs. Challenge with Escherichia coli or Micrococcus luteus induced differential increases in AMP transcripts. Additionally, silencing of Tppgrp-lc, Tptoll, and Tprelish resulted in reduced AMP transcription and survival of bugs after a bacterial challenge. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrated that the IMD and Toll pathways in T. pallidipennis preferentially respond to Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively, by increasing the expression of AMP transcripts, but cross-induction also occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvarado-Delgado Alejandro
- grid.415771.10000 0004 1773 4764Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Av. Universidad 655, CP 62100 Cuernavaca, Morelos México
| | - Juárez-Palma Lilia
- grid.415771.10000 0004 1773 4764Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Av. Universidad 655, CP 62100 Cuernavaca, Morelos México
| | - Maritinez-Bartneche Jesús
- grid.415771.10000 0004 1773 4764Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Av. Universidad 655, CP 62100 Cuernavaca, Morelos México
| | - Rodriguez Mario Henry
- grid.415771.10000 0004 1773 4764Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Av. Universidad 655, CP 62100 Cuernavaca, Morelos México
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Díaz-Garrido P, Cárdenas-Guerra RE, Martínez I, Poggio S, Rodríguez-Hernández K, Rivera-Santiago L, Ortega-López J, Sánchez-Esquivel S, Espinoza B. Differential activity on trypanosomatid parasites of a novel recombinant defensin type 1 from the insect Triatoma (Meccus) pallidipennis. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2021; 139:103673. [PMID: 34700021 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2021.103673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Defensins are one of the major families of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that are widely distributed in insects. In Triatomines (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi the causative agent of Chagas disease, two large groups of defensin isoforms have been described: type 1 and type 4. The aim of this study was to analyze the trypanocidal activity of a type 1 recombinant defensin (rDef1.3) identified in Triatoma (Meccus) pallidipennis, an endemic specie from México. The trypanocidal activity of this defensin was evaluated in vitro, against the parasites T. cruzi, T. rangeli, and two species of Leishmania (L. mexicana and L. major) both causative agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Our data demonstrated that the defensin was active against all the parasites although in different degrees. The defensin altered the morphology, reduced the viability and inhibited the growth of T.cruzi. When tested against T. rangeli (a parasite that infects a variety of mammalian species), stronger morphological effects where observed. Surprisingly the greatest effects were observed against the two Leishmania species, of which L. major was the parasite most affected with 50% of dead cells or with damaged membranes, in addition of a reduction in its proliferative capacity in culture. These results suggest that rDef1.3 has an important antimicrobial effect against trypanosomatids which cause some of the more important neglected tropical diseases transmitted by insect vectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulina Díaz-Garrido
- Laboratorio de Estudios sobre Tripanosomiasis. Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, México City, Mexico
| | - Rosa Elena Cárdenas-Guerra
- Laboratorio de Estudios sobre Tripanosomiasis. Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, México City, Mexico
| | - Ignacio Martínez
- Laboratorio de Estudios sobre Tripanosomiasis. Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, México City, Mexico
| | - Sebastián Poggio
- Departamento de Biología Molecular y Biotecnología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, México City, Mexico
| | - Karla Rodríguez-Hernández
- Laboratorio de Estudios sobre Tripanosomiasis. Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, México City, Mexico
| | - Lucio Rivera-Santiago
- Laboratorio de Estudios sobre Tripanosomiasis. Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, México City, Mexico
| | - Jaime Ortega-López
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360, México City, Mexico
| | - Sergio Sánchez-Esquivel
- Departamento de Biología Molecular y Biotecnología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, México City, Mexico
| | - Bertha Espinoza
- Laboratorio de Estudios sobre Tripanosomiasis. Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, México City, Mexico.
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Cesaretto NR, de Oliveira J, Ravazi A, Madeira FF, Dos Reis YV, de Oliveira ABB, Vicente RD, Cristal DC, Galvão C, de Azeredo-Oliveira MTV, da Rosa JA, Alevi KCC. Trends in taxonomy of Triatomini (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae): reproductive compatibility reinforces the synonymization of Meccus Stål, 1859 with Triatoma Laporte, 1832. Parasit Vectors 2021; 14:340. [PMID: 34174967 PMCID: PMC8235253 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-04847-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Meccus' taxonomy has been quite complex since the first species of this genus was described by Burmeister in 1835 as Conorhinus phyllosoma. In 1859 the species was transferred to the genus Meccus and in 1930 to Triatoma. However, in the twentieth century, the Meccus genus was revalidated (alteration corroborated by molecular studies) and, in the twenty-first century, through a comprehensive study including more sophisticated phylogenetic reconstruction methods, Meccus was again synonymous with Triatoma. Events of natural hybridization with production of fertile offspring have already been reported among sympatric species of the T. phyllosoma subcomplex, and experimental crosses demonstrated reproductive viability among practically all species of the T. phyllosoma subcomplex that were considered as belonging to the genus Meccus, as well as between these species and species of Triatoma. Based on the above, we carried out experimental crosses between T. longipennis (considered M. longipennis in some literature) and T. mopan (always considered as belonging to Triatoma) to evaluate the reproductive compatibility between species of the T. phyllosoma complex. In addition, we have grouped our results with information from the literature regarding crosses between species that were grouped in the genus Meccus with Triatoma, in order to discuss the importance of experimental crosses to confirm the generic reorganization of species. RESULTS The crosses between T. mopan female and T. longipennis male resulted in viable offspring. The hatching of hybrids, even if only in one direction and/or at low frequency, demonstrates reproductive compatibility and homeology between the genomes of the parents. CONCLUSION Considering that intergeneric crosses usually do not result in viable offspring in Triatominae, the reproductive compatibility observed between the T. phyllosoma subcomplex species considered in the Meccus genus with species of the Triatoma genus shows that there is "intergeneric" genomic compatibility, which corroborates the generic reorganization of Meccus in Triatoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natália Regina Cesaretto
- Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências , Rua Dr. Antônio Celso Wagner Zanin, 250, Distrito de Rubião Júnior , Botucatu, SP, 18618-689, Brazil
| | - Jader de Oliveira
- Laboratório de Entomologia em Saúde Pública, Departamento de Epidemiologia, Faculdade de Saúde Pública , Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 715, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Laboratório de Parasitologia , Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas , Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP, 14801-902, Brazil
| | - Amanda Ravazi
- Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências , Rua Dr. Antônio Celso Wagner Zanin, 250, Distrito de Rubião Júnior , Botucatu, SP, 18618-689, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Fernandez Madeira
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular , Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas , Rua Cristóvão Colombo 2265 , São José Do Rio Preto, SP, 15054-000, Brazil
| | - Yago Visinho Dos Reis
- Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências , Rua Dr. Antônio Celso Wagner Zanin, 250, Distrito de Rubião Júnior , Botucatu, SP, 18618-689, Brazil
| | - Ana Beatriz Bortolozo de Oliveira
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular , Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas , Rua Cristóvão Colombo 2265 , São José Do Rio Preto, SP, 15054-000, Brazil
| | - Roberto Dezan Vicente
- Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências , Rua Dr. Antônio Celso Wagner Zanin, 250, Distrito de Rubião Júnior , Botucatu, SP, 18618-689, Brazil
| | - Daniel Cesaretto Cristal
- Laboratório de Parasitologia , Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas , Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP, 14801-902, Brazil
| | - Cleber Galvão
- Laboratório Nacional e Internacional de Referência em Taxonomia de Triatomíneos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) , Av. Brasil 4365, Pavilhão Rocha Lima, sala 505, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21040-360, Brazil.
| | - Maria Tercília Vilela de Azeredo-Oliveira
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular , Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas , Rua Cristóvão Colombo 2265 , São José Do Rio Preto, SP, 15054-000, Brazil
| | - João Aristeu da Rosa
- Laboratório de Parasitologia , Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas , Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP, 14801-902, Brazil
| | - Kaio Cesar Chaboli Alevi
- Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências , Rua Dr. Antônio Celso Wagner Zanin, 250, Distrito de Rubião Júnior , Botucatu, SP, 18618-689, Brazil
- Laboratório de Parasitologia , Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas , Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara, SP, 14801-902, Brazil
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Schaub GA. An Update on the Knowledge of Parasite-Vector Interactions of Chagas Disease. Res Rep Trop Med 2021; 12:63-76. [PMID: 34093053 PMCID: PMC8169816 DOI: 10.2147/rrtm.s274681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
This review focusses on the interactions between the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, and its triatomine vector. The flagellate mainly colonizes the intestinal tract of the insect. The effect of triatomines on trypanosomes is indicated by susceptibility and refractoriness phenomena that vary according to the combination of the strains. Other effects are apparent in the different regions of the gut. In the stomach, the majority of ingested blood trypomastigotes are killed while the remaining transform to round stages. In the small intestine, these develop into epimastigotes, the main replicative stage. In the rectum, the population density is the highest and is where the infectious stage develops, the metacyclic trypomastigote. In all regions of the gut, starvation and feeding of the triatomine affect T. cruzi. In the small intestine and rectum, starvation reduces the population density and more spheromastigotes develop. In the rectum, feeding after short-term starvation induces metacyclogenesis and after long-term starvation the development of specific cells, containing several nuclei, kinetoplasts and flagella. When considering the effects of T. cruzi on triatomines, the flagellate seems to be of low pathogenicity. However, during stressful periods, which are normal in natural populations, effects occur often on the behaviour, eg, in readiness to approach the host, the period of time before defecation, dispersal and aggregation. In nymphs, the duration of the different instars and the mortality rates increase, but this seems to be induced by repeated infections or blood quality by the feeding on infected hosts. Starvation resistance is often reduced by infection. Longevity and reproduction of adults is reduced, but only after infection with some strains of T. cruzi. Only components of the surface coat of blood trypomastigotes induce an immune reaction. However, this seems to act against gut bacteria and favours the development of T. cruzi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Günter A Schaub
- Zoology/Parasitology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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Salcedo-Porras N, Lowenberger C. The innate immune system of kissing bugs, vectors of chagas disease. DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY 2019; 98:119-128. [PMID: 31014953 DOI: 10.1016/j.dci.2019.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Revised: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/18/2019] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Kissing bugs have long served as models to study many aspects of insect physiology. They also serve as vectors for the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that causes Chagas disease in humans. The overall success of insects is due, in part, to their ability to recognize parasites and pathogens as non-self and to eliminate them using their innate immune system. This immune system comprises physical barriers, cellular responses (phagocytosis, nodulation and encapsulation), and humoral factors (antimicrobial peptides and the prophenoloxidase cascade). Trypanosoma cruzi survives solely in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of the vector; if it migrates to the hemocoel it is eliminated. Kissing bugs may not mount a vigorous immune response in the GI tract to avoid eliminating obligate symbiotic microbes on which they rely for survival. Here we describe the current knowledge of innate immunity in kissing bugs and new opportunities using genomic and transcriptomic approaches to study the complex triatomine-trypanosome-microbiome interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolás Salcedo-Porras
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, V5A 1S6, BC, Canada.
| | - Carl Lowenberger
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, V5A 1S6, BC, Canada.
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