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Augusto I, Girard-Dias W, Schoijet A, Alonso GD, Portugal RV, de Souza W, Jimenez V, Miranda K. Quantitative assessment of the nanoanatomy of the contractile vacuole complex in Trypanosoma cruzi. Life Sci Alliance 2024; 7:e202402826. [PMID: 39074903 PMCID: PMC11287019 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202402826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2024] [Revised: 07/17/2024] [Accepted: 07/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi uses various mechanisms to cope with osmotic fluctuations during infection, including the remodeling of organelles such as the contractile vacuole complex (CVC). Little is known about the morphological changes of the CVC during pulsation cycles occurring upon osmotic stress. Here, we investigated the structure-function relationship between the CVC and the flagellar pocket domain where fluid discharge takes place-the adhesion plaque-during the CVC pulsation cycle. Using TcrPDEC2 and TcVps34 overexpressing mutants, known to have low and high efficiency for osmotic responses, we described a structural phenotype for the CVC that matches their corresponding physiological responses. Quantitative tomography provided data on the volume of the CVC and spongiome connections. Changes in the adhesion plaque during the pulsation cycle were also quantified and a dense filamentous network was observed. Together, the results suggest that the adhesion plaque mediates fluid discharge from the central vacuole, revealing new aspects of the osmoregulatory system in T. cruzi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingrid Augusto
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Centro de Pesquisa em Medicina de Precisão, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho and Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Wendell Girard-Dias
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Centro de Pesquisa em Medicina de Precisão, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho and Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Plataforma de Microscopia Eletrônica Rudolf Barth, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Alejandra Schoijet
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres", Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Guillermo Daniel Alonso
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres", Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Rodrigo V Portugal
- Laboratório Nacional de Nanotecnologia, Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais, Campinas, Brazil
- Programa de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, Brazil
| | - Wanderley de Souza
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Centro de Pesquisa em Medicina de Precisão, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho and Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, 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
- Centro Multiusuário para Análise de Fenômenos Biomédicos, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil
| | - Veronica Jimenez
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA
| | - Kildare Miranda
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Centro de Pesquisa em Medicina de Precisão, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho and Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, 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
- Centro Multiusuário para Análise de Fenômenos Biomédicos, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil
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More KJ, Kaur H, Simpson AGB, Spiegel FW, Dacks JB. Contractile vacuoles: a rapidly expanding (and occasionally diminishing?) understanding. Eur J Protistol 2024; 94:126078. [PMID: 38688044 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2024.126078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Osmoregulation is the homeostatic mechanism essential for the survival of organisms in hypoosmotic and hyperosmotic conditions. In freshwater or soil dwelling protists this is frequently achieved through the action of an osmoregulatory organelle, the contractile vacuole. This endomembrane organelle responds to the osmotic challenges and compensates by collecting and expelling the excess water to maintain the cellular osmolarity. As compared with other endomembrane organelles, this organelle is underappreciated and under-studied. Here we review the reported presence or absence of contractile vacuoles across eukaryotic diversity, as well as the observed variability in the structure, function, and molecular machinery of this organelle. Our findings highlight the challenges and opportunities for constructing cellular and evolutionary models for this intriguing organelle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiran J More
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Harpreet Kaur
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Alastair G B Simpson
- Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Frederick W Spiegel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA
| | - Joel B Dacks
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada; Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution, & Environment, University College, London, United Kingdom.
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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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Docampo R. Advances in the cellular biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of acidocalcisomes. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2024; 88:e0004223. [PMID: 38099688 PMCID: PMC10966946 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00042-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2024] Open
Abstract
SUMMARYAcidocalcisomes are organelles conserved during evolution and closely related to the so-called volutin granules of bacteria and archaea, to the acidocalcisome-like vacuoles of yeasts, and to the lysosome-related organelles of animal species. All these organelles have in common their acidity and high content of polyphosphate and calcium. They are characterized by a variety of functions from storage of phosphorus and calcium to roles in Ca2+ signaling, osmoregulation, blood coagulation, and inflammation. They interact with other organelles through membrane contact sites or by fusion, and have several enzymes, pumps, transporters, and channels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Docampo
- Department of Cellular Biology, Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
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Lander N. mSphere of Influence: Compartmentalized cAMP signals in American trypanosomes. mSphere 2024; 9:e0063523. [PMID: 38315033 PMCID: PMC10900897 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00635-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Noelia Lander works on cell signaling in American trypanosomes and studies the role of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) microdomains in environmental sensing and differentiation. In this mSphere of Influence, Dr. Lander reflects on three research articles in different eukaryotic models that had impacted on the way she thinks about the regulation of cAMP signals in Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease. The articles "FRET biosensor uncovers cAMP nano-domains at β-adrenergic targets that dictate precise tuning of cardiac contractility" (N. C. Surdo, M. Berrera, A. Koschinski, M. Brescia, et al., Nat Commun 8:15031, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15031), "Cyclic AMP signaling and glucose metabolism mediate pH taxis by African trypanosomes" (S. Shaw, S. Knüsel, D. Abbühl, A. Naguleswaran, et al., Nat Commun 13:603, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28293-w), and "Encystation stimuli sensing is mediated by adenylate cyclase AC2-dependent cAMP signaling in Giardia" (H. W. Shih, G. C. M. Alas, and A. R. Paredez, Nat Commun 14:7245, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43028-1) influenced her current hypothesis that cAMP signals are generated in response to environmental cues leading to changes in membrane fluidity at the flagellar tip and the contractile vacuole complex of T. cruzi, structures where cAMP mediates key cellular processes for developmental progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noelia Lander
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
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