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Delvoss CMM, Inoue AH, da Silva RV, Fragoso SP, Eger I. Improving in vitro screening compounds anti-Trypanosoma cruzi by GFP-expressing parasites. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2024; 119:e230223. [PMID: 38716979 PMCID: PMC11075634 DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760230223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Conventional microscopic counting is a widely utilised method for evaluating the trypanocidal effects of drugs on intracellular amastigotes. This is a low-cost approach, but it is time-consuming and reliant on the expertise of the microscopist. So, there is a pressing need for developing technologies to enhance the efficiency of low-cost anti-Trypanosoma cruzi drug screening. OBJECTIVES In our laboratory, we aimed to expedite the screening of anti-T. cruzi drugs by implementing a fluorescent method that correlates emitted fluorescence from green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing T. cruzi (Tc-GFP) with cellular viability. METHODS Epimastigotes (Y strain) were transfected with the pROCKGFPNeo plasmid, resulting in robust and sustained GFP expression across epimastigotes, trypomastigotes, and intracellular amastigotes. Tc-GFP epimastigotes and intracellular amastigotes were exposed to a serial dilution of benznidazole (Bz). Cell viability was assessed through a combination of microscopic counting, MTT, and fluorimetry. FINDINGS The fluorescence data indicated an underestimation of the activity of Bz against epimastigotes (IC50 75 µM x 14 µM). Conversely, for intracellular GFP-amastigotes, both fluorimetry and microscopy yielded identical IC50 values. Factors influencing the fluorimetry approach are discussed. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Our proposed fluorometric assessment is effective and can serve as a viable substitute for the time-consuming microscopic counting of intracellular amastigotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cleyson Mathias Morais Delvoss
- Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Protozoologia, Ponta Grossa, PR, Brasil
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Carlos Chagas, Laboratório de Pesquisa em Apicomplexa, Curitiba, PR, Brasil
| | - Alexandre Haruo Inoue
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Carlos Chagas, Laboratório de Pesquisa em Apicomplexa, Curitiba, PR, Brasil
| | - Rosiane Valeriano da Silva
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Carlos Chagas, Laboratório de Pesquisa em Apicomplexa, Curitiba, PR, Brasil
| | - Stênio Perdigão Fragoso
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Carlos Chagas, Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Sistêmica de Tripanossomatídeos, Curitiba, PR, Brasil
| | - Iriane Eger
- Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Protozoologia, Ponta Grossa, PR, Brasil
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Dantas RF, Torres-Santos EC, Silva Jr FP. Past and future of trypanosomatids high-throughput phenotypic screening. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2022; 117:e210402. [PMID: 35293482 PMCID: PMC8920514 DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760210402] [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: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Diseases caused by trypanosomatid parasites affect millions of people mainly living in developing countries. Novel drugs are highly needed since there are no vaccines and available treatment has several limitations, such as resistance, low efficacy, and high toxicity. The drug discovery process is often analogous to finding a needle in the haystack. In the last decades a so-called rational drug design paradigm, heavily dependent on computational approaches, has promised to deliver new drugs in a more cost-effective way. Paradoxically however, the mainstay of these computational methods is data-driven, meaning they need activity data for new compounds to be generated and available in databases. Therefore, high-throughput screening (HTS) of compounds still is a much-needed exercise in drug discovery to fuel other rational approaches. In trypanosomatids, due to the scarcity of validated molecular targets and biological complexity of these parasites, phenotypic screening has become an essential tool for the discovery of new bioactive compounds. In this article we discuss the perspectives of phenotypic HTS for trypanosomatid drug discovery with emphasis on the role of image-based, high-content methods. We also propose an ideal cascade of assays for the identification of new drug candidates for clinical development using leishmaniasis as an example.
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Adegboye O, Field MA, Kupz A, Pai S, Sharma D, Smout MJ, Wangchuk P, Wong Y, Loiseau C. Natural-Product-Based Solutions for Tropical Infectious Diseases. Clin Microbiol Rev 2021; 34:e0034820. [PMID: 34494873 PMCID: PMC8673330 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00348-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
About half of the world's population and 80% of the world's biodiversity can be found in the tropics. Many diseases are specific to the tropics, with at least 41 diseases caused by endemic bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Such diseases are of increasing concern, as the geographic range of tropical diseases is expanding due to climate change, urbanization, change in agricultural practices, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity. While traditional medicines have been used for centuries in the treatment of tropical diseases, the active natural compounds within these medicines remain largely unknown. In this review, we describe infectious diseases specific to the tropics, including their causative pathogens, modes of transmission, recent major outbreaks, and geographic locations. We further review current treatments for these tropical diseases, carefully consider the biodiscovery potential of the tropical biome, and discuss a range of technologies being used for drug development from natural resources. We provide a list of natural products with antimicrobial activity, detailing the source organisms and their effectiveness as treatment. We discuss how technological advancements, such as next-generation sequencing, are driving high-throughput natural product screening pipelines to identify compounds with therapeutic properties. This review demonstrates the impact natural products from the vast tropical biome have in the treatment of tropical infectious diseases and how high-throughput technical capacity will accelerate this discovery process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oyelola Adegboye
- Public Health and Tropical Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Vector-Borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Matt A. Field
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Garvin Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
| | - Andreas Kupz
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Saparna Pai
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Dileep Sharma
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- College of Medicine & Dentistry, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Michael J. Smout
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Phurpa Wangchuk
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Yide Wong
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Claire Loiseau
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
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Álvarez-Bardón M, Pérez-Pertejo Y, Ordóñez C, Sepúlveda-Crespo D, Carballeira NM, Tekwani BL, Murugesan S, Martinez-Valladares M, García-Estrada C, Reguera RM, Balaña-Fouce R. Screening Marine Natural Products for New Drug Leads against Trypanosomatids and Malaria. Mar Drugs 2020; 18:E187. [PMID: 32244488 PMCID: PMC7230869 DOI: 10.3390/md18040187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2020] [Revised: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) represent a serious threat to humans, especially for those living in poor or developing countries. Almost one-sixth of the world population is at risk of suffering from these diseases and many thousands die because of NTDs, to which we should add the sanitary, labor and social issues that hinder the economic development of these countries. Protozoan-borne diseases are responsible for more than one million deaths every year. Visceral leishmaniasis, Chagas disease or sleeping sickness are among the most lethal NTDs. Despite not being considered an NTD by the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria must be added to this sinister group. Malaria, caused by the apicomplexan parasite Plasmodium falciparum, is responsible for thousands of deaths each year. The treatment of this disease has been losing effectiveness year after year. Many of the medicines currently in use are obsolete due to their gradual loss of efficacy, their intrinsic toxicity and the emergence of drug resistance or a lack of adherence to treatment. Therefore, there is an urgent and global need for new drugs. Despite this, the scant interest shown by most of the stakeholders involved in the pharmaceutical industry makes our present therapeutic arsenal scarce, and until recently, the search for new drugs has not been seriously addressed. The sources of new drugs for these and other pathologies include natural products, synthetic molecules or repurposing drugs. The most frequent sources of natural products are microorganisms, e.g., bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae and plants, which are able to synthesize many drugs that are currently in use (e.g. antimicrobials, antitumor, immunosuppressants, etc.). The marine environment is another well-established source of bioactive natural products, with recent applications against parasites, bacteria and other pathogens which affect humans and animals. Drug discovery techniques have rapidly advanced since the beginning of the millennium. The combination of novel techniques that include the genetic modification of pathogens, bioimaging and robotics has given rise to the standardization of High-Performance Screening platforms in the discovery of drugs. These advancements have accelerated the discovery of new chemical entities with antiparasitic effects. This review presents critical updates regarding the use of High-Throughput Screening (HTS) in the discovery of drugs for NTDs transmitted by protozoa, including malaria, and its application in the discovery of new drugs of marine origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Álvarez-Bardón
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - Yolanda Pérez-Pertejo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - César Ordóñez
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - Daniel Sepúlveda-Crespo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - Nestor M. Carballeira
- Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras 00925-2537, San Juan, Puerto Rico;
| | - Babu L. Tekwani
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Division of Drug Discovery, Southern Research, Birmingham, AL 35205, USA;
| | - Sankaranarayanan Murugesan
- Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Campus, Vidya Vihar, Pilani 333031, India;
| | - Maria Martinez-Valladares
- Department of Animal Health, Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña (CSIC-Universidad de León), Grulleros, 24346 León, Spain;
| | - Carlos García-Estrada
- INBIOTEC (Instituto de Biotecnología de León), Avda. Real 1-Parque Científico de León, 24006 León, Spain;
| | - Rosa M. Reguera
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - Rafael Balaña-Fouce
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
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Silva-Gomes NL, Rampazzo RDCP, Moreira CMDN, Porcino GN, Dos Santos CMB, Krieger MA, Vasconcelos EG, Fragoso SP, Moreira OC. Knocking Down TcNTPDase-1 Gene Reduces in vitro Infectivity of Trypanosoma cruzi. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:434. [PMID: 32256481 PMCID: PMC7094052 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecto-Nucleoside Triphosphate Diphosphohydrolases are enzymes that hydrolyze tri- and/or diphosphate nucleosides. Evidences pointed out to their participation in Trypanosoma cruzi virulence, infectivity, and purine acquisition. In this study, recombinant T. cruzi knocking out or overexpressing the TcNTPDase-1 gene were built, and the role of TcNTPDase-1 in the in vitro interaction with VERO cells was investigated. Results show that epimastigote forms of hemi-knockout parasites showed about 50% lower level of TcNTPDase-1 gene expression when compared to the wild type, while the T. cruzi overexpressing this gene reach 20 times higher gene expression. In trypomastigote forms, the same decreasing in TcNTPDase-1 gene expression was observed to the hemi-knockout parasites. The in vitro infection assays showed a reduction to 51.6 and 59.9% at the adhesion and to 25.2 and 26.4% at the endocytic indexes to the parasites knockout to one or other allele (Hygro and Neo hemi-knockouts), respectively. In contrast, the infection assays with T. cruzi overexpressing TcNTPDase-1 from the WT or Neo hemi-knockout parasites showed an opposite result, with the increasing to 287.7 and 271.1% at the adhesion and to 220.4 and 186.7% at the endocytic indexes, respectively. The parasitic load estimated in infected VERO cells by quantitative real time PCR corroborated these findings. Taken together, the partial silencing and overexpression of the TcNTPDase-1 gene generated viable parasites with low and high infectivity rates, respectively, corroborating that the enzyme encoded for this gene plays an important role to the T. cruzi infectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natália Lins Silva-Gomes
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Endemic Diseases, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | | | - Gabriane Nascimento Porcino
- Laboratory of Structure and Function of Proteins, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil
| | | | - Marco Aurélio Krieger
- Laboratory of Functional Genomics, Carlos Chagas Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Eveline Gomes Vasconcelos
- Laboratory of Structure and Function of Proteins, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil
| | - Stenio Perdigão Fragoso
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Trypanosomatids, Carlos Chagas Institute, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Otacilio C Moreira
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Endemic Diseases, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Fonseca-Berzal C, Arán VJ, Escario JA, Gómez-Barrio A. Experimental models in Chagas disease: a review of the methodologies applied for screening compounds against Trypanosoma cruzi. Parasitol Res 2018; 117:3367-3380. [PMID: 30232605 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-018-6084-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
One of the main problems of Chagas disease (CD), the parasitic infection caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is the lack of a completely satisfactory treatment, which is currently based on two old nitroheterocyclic drugs (i.e., nifurtimox and benznidazole) that show important limitations for treating patients. In this context, many laboratories look for alternative therapies potentially applicable to the treatment, and therefore, research in CD chemotherapy works in the design of experimental protocols for detecting molecules with activity against T. cruzi. Phenotypic assays are considered the most valuable strategy for screening these antiparasitic compounds. Among them, in vitro experiments are the first step to test potential anti-T. cruzi drugs directly on the different parasite forms (i.e., epimastigotes, trypomastigotes, and amastigotes) and to detect cytotoxicity. Once the putative trypanocidal drug has been identified in vitro, it must be moved to in vivo models of T. cruzi infection, to explore (i) acute toxicity, (ii) efficacy during the acute infection, and (iii) efficacy in the chronic disease. Moreover, in silico approaches for predicting activity have emerged as a supporting tool for drug screening procedures. Accordingly, this work reviews those in vitro, in vivo, and in silico methods that have been routinely applied during the last decades, aiming to discover trypanocidal compounds that contribute to developing more effective CD treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Fonseca-Berzal
- Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Pza. Ramón y Cajal s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Vicente J Arán
- Instituto de Química Médica (IQM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), c/ Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - José A Escario
- Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Pza. Ramón y Cajal s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alicia Gómez-Barrio
- Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Pza. Ramón y Cajal s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
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Silberstein E, Serna C, Fragoso SP, Nagarkatti R, Debrabant A. A novel nanoluciferase-based system to monitor Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice by bioluminescence imaging. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0195879. [PMID: 29672535 PMCID: PMC5908157 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by the intracellular protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, affects 8–10 million people worldwide and represents a major public health challenge. There is no effective treatment or vaccine to control the disease that is characterized by a mild acute phase followed by a chronic life-long infection. Approximately 30% of chronically infected individuals develop cardiac and/or digestive pathologies. T. cruzi can invade a wide variety of nucleated cells, but only persists at specific tissues in the host. However, the mechanisms that determine tissue tropism and the progression of the infection have not been fully described. Identification of infection niches in animal models has been difficult due to the limited quantity of parasite-infected cells and their focal distribution in tissues during the chronic phase. To better understand the course of chronic infections and parasite dissemination, we developed a bioluminescence imaging system based on the use of transgenic T. cruzi Colombiana strain parasites expressing nanoluciferase. Swiss Webster mice were infected with luminescent trypomastigotes and monitored for 126 days. Whole animal in vivo imaging showed parasites predominantly distributed in the abdominal cavity and surrounding areas throughout the infection. Bioluminescence signal reached a peak between 14 to 21 days post infection (dpi) and decreased progressively over time. Total animal luminescence could still be measured 126 dpi while parasites remained undetectable in blood by microscopy in most animals. Ex vivo imaging of specific tissues and organs dissected post-mortem at 126 dpi revealed a widespread parasite distribution in the skeletal muscle, heart, intestines and mesenteric fat. Parasites were also detected in lungs and liver. This noninvasive imaging model represents a novel tool to study host-parasite interactions and to identify parasite reservoirs of chronic Chagas Disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Silberstein
- Laboratory of Emerging Pathogens, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Carylinda Serna
- Laboratory of Emerging Pathogens, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Stenio Perdigão Fragoso
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Trypanosomatids, Instituto Carlos Chagas/Fiocruz, Curitiba - Paraná, Brazil
| | - Rana Nagarkatti
- Laboratory of Emerging Pathogens, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Alain Debrabant
- Laboratory of Emerging Pathogens, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Avci P, Karimi M, Sadasivam M, Antunes-Melo WC, Carrasco E, Hamblin MR. In-vivo monitoring of infectious diseases in living animals using bioluminescence imaging. Virulence 2017; 9:28-63. [PMID: 28960132 PMCID: PMC6067836 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2017.1371897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Traditional methods of localizing and quantifying the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in living experimental animal models of infections have mostly relied on sacrificing the animals, dissociating the tissue and counting the number of colony forming units. However, the discovery of several varieties of the light producing enzyme, luciferase, and the genetic engineering of bacteria, fungi, parasites and mice to make them emit light, either after administration of the luciferase substrate, or in the case of the bacterial lux operon without any exogenous substrate, has provided a new alternative. Dedicated bioluminescence imaging (BLI) cameras can record the light emitted from living animals in real time allowing non-invasive, longitudinal monitoring of the anatomical location and growth of infectious microorganisms as measured by strength of the BLI signal. BLI technology has been used to follow bacterial infections in traumatic skin wounds and burns, osteomyelitis, infections in intestines, Mycobacterial infections, otitis media, lung infections, biofilm and endodontic infections and meningitis. Fungi that have been engineered to be bioluminescent have been used to study infections caused by yeasts (Candida) and by filamentous fungi. Parasitic infections caused by malaria, Leishmania, trypanosomes and toxoplasma have all been monitored by BLI. Viruses such as vaccinia, herpes simplex, hepatitis B and C and influenza, have been studied using BLI. This rapidly growing technology is expected to continue to provide much useful information, while drastically reducing the numbers of animals needed in experimental studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pinar Avci
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,b Department of Dermatology , Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA
| | - Mahdi Karimi
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,c Department of Medical Nanotechnology , School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran.,d Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Magesh Sadasivam
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,e Amity Institute of Nanotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh , Noida , India
| | - Wanessa C Antunes-Melo
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,f University of Sao Paulo , Sao Carlos-SP , Brazil
| | - Elisa Carrasco
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,g Department of Biosciences , Durham University , Durham , United Kingdom
| | - Michael R Hamblin
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,b Department of Dermatology , Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA.,h Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology , Cambridge , MA , USA
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Kessler RL, Pavoni DP, Krieger MA, Probst CM. Trypanosoma cruzi specific mRNA amplification by in vitro transcription improves parasite transcriptomics in host-parasite RNA mixtures. BMC Genomics 2017; 18:793. [PMID: 29037144 PMCID: PMC5644099 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-017-4163-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2016] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Trypanosomatids are a group of protozoan parasites that includes the etiologic agents of important human illnesses as Chagas disease, sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis. These parasites have a significant distinction from other eukaryotes concerning mRNA structure, since all mature mRNAs have an identical species-specific sequence of 39 nucleotides at the 5′ extremity, named spliced leader (SL). Considering this peculiar aspect of trypanosomatid mRNA, the aim of the present work was to develop a Trypanosoma cruzi specific in vitro transcription (IVT) linear mRNA amplification method in order to improve parasite transcriptomics analyses. Methods We designed an oligonucleotide complementary to the last 21 bases of T. cruzi SL sequence, bearing an upstream T7 promoter (T7SL primer), which was used to direct the synthesis of second-strand cDNA. Original mRNA was then amplified by IVT using T7 RNA polymerase. T7SL-amplified RNA from two distinct T. cruzi stages (epimastigotes and trypomastigotes) were deep sequenced in SOLiD platform. Usual poly(A) + RNA and and T7-oligo(dT) amplified RNA (Eberwine method) were also sequenced. RNA-Seq reads were aligned to our new and improved T. cruzi Dm28c genome assembly (PacBio technology) and resulting transcriptome pattern from these three RNA preparation methods were compared, mainly concerning the conservation of mRNA transcritional levels and DEGs detection between epimastigotes and trypomastigotes. Results T7SL IVT method detected more potential differentially expressed genes in comparison to either poly(A) + RNA or T7dT IVT, and was also able to produce reliable quantifications of the parasite transcriptome down to 3 ng of total RNA. Furthermore, amplification of parasite mRNA in HeLa/epimastigote RNA mixtures showed that T7SL IVT generates transcriptome quantification with similar detection of differentially expressed genes when parasite RNA mass was only 0.1% of the total mixture (R = 0.78 when compared to poly(A) + RNA). Conclusions The T7SL IVT amplification method presented here allows the detection of more potential parasite differentially expressed genes (in comparison to poly(A) + RNA) in host-parasite mixtures or samples with low amount of RNA. This method is especially useful for trypanosomatid transcriptomics because it produces less bias than PCR-based mRNA amplification. Additionally, by simply changing the complementary region of the T7SL primer, the present method can be applied to any trypanosomatid species. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-017-4163-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Luis Kessler
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
| | - Daniela Parada Pavoni
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
| | - Marco Aurelio Krieger
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
| | - Christian Macagnan Probst
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil. .,Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Laboratory, Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
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Moreira CMDN, Batista CM, Fernandes JC, Kessler RL, Soares MJ, Fragoso SP. Knockout of the gamma subunit of the AP-1 adaptor complex in the human parasite Trypanosoma cruzi impairs infectivity and differentiation and prevents the maturation and targeting of the major protease cruzipain. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0179615. [PMID: 28759609 PMCID: PMC5536268 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2017] [Accepted: 05/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The AP-1 Adaptor Complex assists clathrin-coated vesicle assembly in the trans-Golgi network (TGN) of eukaryotic cells. However, the role of AP-1 in the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi-the Chagas disease parasite-has not been addressed. Here, we studied the function and localization of AP-1 in different T. cruzi life cycle forms, by generating a gene knockout of the large AP-1 subunit gamma adaptin (TcAP1-γ), and raising a monoclonal antibody against TcAP1-γ. Co-localization with a Golgi marker and with the clathrin light chain showed that TcAP1-γ is located in the Golgi, and it may interact with clathrin in vivo, at the TGN. Epimastigote (insect form) parasites lacking TcAP1-γ (TcγKO) have reduced proliferation and differentiation into infective metacyclic trypomastigotes (compared with wild-type parasites). TcγKO parasites have also displayed significantly reduced infectivity towards mammalian cells. Importantly, TcAP1-γ knockout impaired maturation and transport to lysosome-related organelles (reservosomes) of a key cargo-the major cysteine protease cruzipain, which is important for parasite nutrition, differentiation and infection. In conclusion, the defective processing and transport of cruzipain upon AP-1 ablation may underlie the phenotype of TcγKO parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Rafael Luis Kessler
- Laboratory of Functional Genomics. Instituto Carlos Chagas/Fiocruz, Curitiba - PR, Brazil
| | - Maurilio José Soares
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Instituto Carlos Chagas/Fiocruz, Curitiba - PR, Brazil
| | - Stenio Perdigão Fragoso
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Trypanosomatids, Instituto Carlos Chagas/Fiocruz, Curitiba - PR, Brazil
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11
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Nerolidol, the main constituent of Piper aduncum essential oil, has anti-Leishmania braziliensis activity. Parasitology 2017; 144:1179-1190. [PMID: 28482935 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182017000452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis is a protozoan that causes mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, which is an infectious disease that affects more than 12 million people worldwide. The available treatment is limited, has side-effects or is inefficient. In a search for alternative compounds of natural origin, we tested the microbicidal activity of Piper aduncum essential oil (PaEO) on this parasite. Our data showed that PaEO had an inhibitory effect on the growth of L. braziliensis promastigotes with an IC50/24 h=77·9 µg mL-1. The main constituent (nerolidol: 25·22%) presented a similar inhibitory effect (IC50/24 h = 74·3 µg mL-1). Ultrastructural observation of nerolidol-treated parasites by scanning and transmission electron microscopies revealed cell shrinkage and morphological alterations in the mitochondrion, nuclear chromatin and flagellar pocket. Flow cytometry analysis showed a reduction in the cell size, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, phosphatidylserine exposure and DNA degradation, which when associated with the morphological changes indicated that nerolidol induced incidental cell death in the L. braziliensis promastigotes. The results presented here indicate that nerolidol derivatives are promising compounds for further evaluation against Leishmania parasites.
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12
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Kessler RL, Contreras VT, Marliére NP, Aparecida Guarneri A, Villamizar Silva LH, Mazzarotto GACA, Batista M, Soccol VT, Krieger MA, Probst CM. Recently differentiated epimastigotes fromTrypanosoma cruziare infective to the mammalian host. Mol Microbiol 2017; 104:712-736. [DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Víctor Tulio Contreras
- Laboratorio de Protozoología, Centro de Biología Molecular de Parásitos, Facultad Ciencias de la Salud; Universidad de Carabobo; Valencia Venezuela
| | - Newmar Pinto Marliére
- Vector Behavior and Pathogen Interaction Group; Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz; Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais Brazil
| | - Alessandra Aparecida Guarneri
- Vector Behavior and Pathogen Interaction Group; Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz; Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Vanete Thomaz Soccol
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Processos Biotecnológicos e Biotecnologia, Centro Politécnico; Universidade Federal do Paraná; Curitiba PR Brazil
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13
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Lysosome-like compartments of Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes may originate directly from epimastigote reservosomes. Parasitology 2017; 144:841-850. [DOI: 10.1017/s0031182016002602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYTrypanosoma cruzi epimastigote reservosomes store nutrients taken up during the intense endocytic activity exhibited by this developmental form. Reservosomes were classified as pre-lysosomal compartments. In contrast, trypomastigote forms are not able to take up nutrients from the medium. Interestingly, trypomastigotes also have acidic organelles with the same proteases contained in epimastigote reservosomes. Nevertheless, the origin and function of these organelles have not been disclosed so far. Given the similarities between the compartments of epimastigotes and trypomastigotes, the present study aimed to investigate the origin of metacyclic trypomastigote protease-containing organelles by tracking fluorospheres or colloidal gold particles previously stored in epimastigotes’ reservosomes throughout metacyclogenesis. Using three-dimensional reconstruction of serial electron microscopy images, it was possible to find trypomastigote compartments containing the tracer. Our observations demonstrate that the protease-containing compartments from metacyclic trypomastigotes may originate directly from the reservosomes of epimastigotes.
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14
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Haridas V, Ranjbar S, Vorobjev IA, Goldfeld AE, Barteneva NS. Imaging flow cytometry analysis of intracellular pathogens. Methods 2017; 112:91-104. [PMID: 27642004 PMCID: PMC5857943 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2016.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2016] [Revised: 08/15/2016] [Accepted: 09/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Imaging flow cytometry has been applied to address questions in infection biology, in particular, infections induced by intracellular pathogens. This methodology, which utilizes specialized analytic software makes it possible to analyze hundreds of quantified features for hundreds of thousands of individual cellular or subcellular events in a single experiment. Imaging flow cytometry analysis of host cell-pathogen interaction can thus quantitatively addresses a variety of biological questions related to intracellular infection, including cell counting, internalization score, and subcellular patterns of co-localization. Here, we provide an overview of recent achievements in the use of fluorescently labeled prokaryotic or eukaryotic pathogens in human cellular infections in analysis of host-pathogen interactions. Specifically, we give examples of Imagestream-based analysis of cell lines infected with Toxoplasma gondii or Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Furthermore, we illustrate the capabilities of imaging flow cytometry using a combination of standard IDEAS™ software and the more recently developed Feature Finder algorithm, which is capable of identifying statistically significant differences between researcher-defined image galleries. We argue that the combination of imaging flow cytometry with these software platforms provides a powerful new approach to understanding host control of intracellular pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viraga Haridas
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United States; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, United States
| | - Shahin Ranjbar
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United States; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, United States
| | - Ivan A Vorobjev
- School of Science and Technology, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan; A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia; Department of Cell Biology and Histology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
| | - Anne E Goldfeld
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United States; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, United States.
| | - Natasha S Barteneva
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United States; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, United States; School of Science and Technology, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan.
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15
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Dos Anjos DO, Sobral Alves ES, Gonçalves VT, Fontes SS, Nogueira ML, Suarez-Fontes AM, Neves da Costa JB, Rios-Santos F, Vannier-Santos MA. Effects of a novel β-lapachone derivative on Trypanosoma cruzi: Parasite death involving apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 2016; 6:207-219. [PMID: 27770751 PMCID: PMC5078628 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2016.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2014] [Revised: 10/07/2016] [Accepted: 10/10/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Natural products comprise valuable sources for new antiparasitic drugs. Here we tested the effects of a novel β-lapachone derivative on Trypanosoma cruzi parasite survival and proliferation and used microscopy and cytometry techniques to approach the mechanism(s) underlying parasite death. The selectivity index determination indicate that the compound trypanocidal activity was over ten-fold more cytotoxic to epimastigotes than to macrophages or splenocytes. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the R72 β-lapachone derivative affected the T. cruzi morphology and surface topography. General plasma membrane waving and blebbing particularly on the cytostome region were observed in the R72-treated parasites. Transmission electron microscopy observations confirmed the surface damage at the cytostome opening vicinity. We also observed ultrastructural evidence of the autophagic mechanism termed macroautophagy. Some of the autophagosomes involved large portions of the parasite cytoplasm and their fusion/confluence may lead to necrotic parasite death. The remarkably enhanced frequency of autophagy triggering was confirmed by quantitating monodansylcadaverine labeling. Some cells displayed evidence of chromatin pycnosis and nuclear fragmentation were detected. This latter phenomenon was also indicated by DAPI staining of R72-treated cells. The apoptotis induction was suggested to take place in circa one-third of the parasites assessed by annexin V labeling measured by flow cytometry. TUNEL staining corroborated the apoptosis induction. Propidium iodide labeling indicate that at least 10% of the R72-treated parasites suffered necrosis within 24 h. The present data indicate that the β-lapachone derivative R72 selectively triggers T. cruzi cell death, involving both apoptosis and autophagy-induced necrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle Oliveira Dos Anjos
- Lab. Biologia Parasitária, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - FIOCRUZ, Brazil; Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz UESC, Brazil
| | | | | | - Sheila Suarez Fontes
- Lab. Biologia Parasitária, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - FIOCRUZ, Brazil
| | - Mateus Lima Nogueira
- Lab. Biologia Parasitária, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - FIOCRUZ, Brazil
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16
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Yang G, Lee N, Ioset JR, No JH. Evaluation of Parameters Impacting Drug Susceptibility in Intracellular Trypanosoma cruzi Assay Protocols. SLAS DISCOVERY 2016; 22:125-134. [PMID: 27729503 PMCID: PMC5482386 DOI: 10.1177/1087057116673796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
In order to understand the key parameters influencing drug susceptibility, different Trypanosoma cruzi assay protocols were evaluated using a comparative assay design. The assays compared in this study were an image-based intracellular T. cruzi assay quantified through an image-mining algorithm and an intracellular assay utilizing a β-galactosidase-expressing T. cruzi strain. Thirty-one reference compounds known to exhibit activities against intracellular T. cruzi were used as benchmarks. Initial comparison using EC50 values from two assays showed a very poor correlation, with an R2 value of 0.005. Nitroheterocyclics and CYP51 inhibitors were inactive in an image-based assay, but were highly active in a colorimetric assay. In order to identify the differentiating factor, we synchronized the compound-parasite incubation times or the sequential cell and compound seeding schemes between assays, but the correlation remained low. A high correlation ( R2 = 0.86) was observed only after both compound incubation time and cell seeding were synchronized between assays. Further analysis of EC50 and maximum inhibition values showed that nitroheterocyclics and CYP51 inhibitors exhibit relatively large deviations in activity between experimental protocols routinely used for in vitro intracellular T. cruzi assays. These findings suggest that the factors mentioned are critical when designing an intracellular T. cruzi assay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gyongseon Yang
- 1 Leishmania Research Laboratory, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.,2 Interdisciplinary Programs of Functional Genomics, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Nakyung Lee
- 1 Leishmania Research Laboratory, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Jean-Robert Ioset
- 3 Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DND i), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Joo Hwan No
- 1 Leishmania Research Laboratory, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
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17
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Miranda CG, Solana ME, Curto MDLA, Lammel EM, Schijman AG, Alba Soto CD. A flow cytometer-based method to simultaneously assess activity and selectivity of compounds against the intracellular forms of Trypanosoma cruzi. Acta Trop 2015; 152:8-16. [PMID: 26272680 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2015] [Revised: 07/13/2015] [Accepted: 08/06/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Chagas disease is a major unsolved health issue in Latin America and an emerging threat worldwide. New drugs are urgently needed for chemotherapy as those available (benznidazole and nifurtimox) have variable efficacy and elevated toxicity. Efforts are actually oriented to improve tools and technologies (e.g. transgenic parasites, flow cytometry or image-based systems) for the screening of large numbers of candidate compounds for their activity against Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). Methods that test drug efficacy and selectivity in the same assay are suitable to accelerate the process of drug discovery. Here, we developed a GFP expressing T. cruzi from a moderate virulence stock and confirmed that the transgenic parasite retained the biological characteristics of the parental strain. With this tool, we established a flow cytometer-based method to simultaneously test drug activity against intracellular amastigotes and toxicity to the host cell. This one-step procedure allows determining the selectivity index of the tested compound in a sensitive and accurate manner even with low infection rates. This method can provide additional information on the interactions between drug, parasites and host cell and could be adapted to other trypanosomatids and protozoa with intracellular multiplication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Gabriel Miranda
- Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médicas (IMPaM),UBA-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos, Paraguay 2155, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires CC1121ABG, Argentina.
| | - Maria Elisa Solana
- Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médicas (IMPaM),UBA-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos, Paraguay 2155, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires CC1121ABG, Argentina.
| | - Maria de Los Angeles Curto
- Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de la Enfermedad de Chagas, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490 Piso 2, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires C1428ADN, Argentina.
| | - Estela Maria Lammel
- Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médicas (IMPaM),UBA-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos, Paraguay 2155, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires CC1121ABG, Argentina.
| | - Alejandro Gabriel Schijman
- Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de la Enfermedad de Chagas, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490 Piso 2, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires C1428ADN, Argentina.
| | - Catalina Dirney Alba Soto
- Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médicas (IMPaM),UBA-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos, Paraguay 2155, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires CC1121ABG, Argentina.
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18
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Batista CM, Kessler RL, Eger I, Soares MJ. Trypanosoma cruzi Intracellular Amastigotes Isolated by Nitrogen Decompression Are Capable of Endocytosis and Cargo Storage in Reservosomes. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0130165. [PMID: 26057131 PMCID: PMC4461355 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2015] [Accepted: 05/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Epimastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi (the etiologic agent of Chagas disease) internalize and store extracellular macromolecules in lysosome-related organelles (LROs) called reservosomes, which are positive for the cysteine protease cruzipain. Despite the importance of endocytosis for cell proliferation, macromolecule internalization remains poorly understood in the most clinically relevant proliferative form, the intracellular amastigotes found in mammalian hosts. The main obstacle was the lack of a simple method to isolate viable intracellular amastigotes from host cells. In this work we describe the fast and efficient isolation of viable intracellular amastigotes by nitrogen decompression (cavitation), which allowed the analysis of amastigote endocytosis, with direct visualization of internalized cargo inside the cells. The method routinely yielded 5x107 amastigotes—with typical shape and positive for the amastigote marker Ssp4—from 5x106 infected Vero cells (48h post-infection). We could visualize the endocytosis of fluorescently-labeled transferrin and albumin by isolated intracellular amastigotes using immunofluorescence microscopy; however, only transferrin endocytosis was detected by flow cytometry (and was also analyzed by western blotting), suggesting that amastigotes internalized relatively low levels of albumin. Transferrin binding to the surface of amastigotes (at 4°C) and its uptake (at 37°C) were confirmed by binding dissociation assays using acetic acid. Importantly, both transferrin and albumin co-localized with cruzipain in amastigote LROs. Our data show that isolated T. cruzi intracellular amastigotes actively ingest macromolecules from the environment and store them in cruzipain-positive LROs functionally related to epimastigote reservosomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassiano Martin Batista
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Instituto Carlos Chagas/Fiocruz-PR, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
- * E-mail:
| | - Rafael Luis Kessler
- Laboratório de Genômica Funcional, Instituto Carlos Chagas/Fiocruz-PR, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Iriane Eger
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Instituto Carlos Chagas/Fiocruz-PR, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
- Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Maurilio José Soares
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Instituto Carlos Chagas/Fiocruz-PR, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
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19
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Ma Y, Weiss LM, Huang H. Inducible suicide vector systems for Trypanosoma cruzi. Microbes Infect 2015; 17:440-50. [PMID: 25899945 DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2015.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2015] [Revised: 04/07/2015] [Accepted: 04/08/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi is a major neglected tropical parasitic disease. The pathogenesis of this infection remains disputable. There is no suitable vaccine for the prevention. Attenuated live vaccines can provide strong protection against infection; however, there are the concerns about latent infection or reversion to virulence in such attenuated strains. A method to induce T. cruzi death would provide a critical tool for research into the pathophysiological mechanisms and provide a novel design of safe live attenuated vaccines. We established effective inducible systems for T. cruzi employing the degradation domain based on the Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase (ecDHFR). The DHFR degradation domain (DDD) can be stabilized by trimethoprim-lactate and can be used to express detrimental or toxic proteins. T. cruzi lines with Alpha-toxin, Cecropin A and GFP under the control of DDD with a hemagglutinin tag (HA) were developed. Interestingly, amastigotes bearing GFP-DDDHA, Alpha-toxin-DDDHA, Cecropin A-DDDHA and DDDHA all resulted in inducible cell death with these fusions, indicating that DDDHA protein is also detrimental to amastigotes. Furthermore, these strains were attenuated in mouse experiments producing no pathological changes and inoculation with these DDDHA strains in mice provided strong protection against lethal wild type infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanfen Ma
- Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Louis M Weiss
- Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA; Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Huan Huang
- Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
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20
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Basso B, Marini V. Experimental Chagas disease in Balb/c mice previously vaccinated with T. rangeli. II. The innate immune response shows immunological memory: reality or fiction? Immunobiology 2014; 220:428-36. [PMID: 25454810 DOI: 10.1016/j.imbio.2014.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2014] [Revised: 10/01/2014] [Accepted: 10/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi is a real challenge to the host's immune system, because it requires strong humoral and cellular immune response to remove circulating trypomastigote forms, and to prevent the replication of amastigote forms in tissues, involving many regulator and effector components. This protozoan is responsible for Chagas disease, a major public health problem in Latinamerica. We have developed a model of vaccination with Trypanosoma rangeli, a parasite closely related to T. cruzi, but nonpathogenic to humans, which reduces the infectiousness in three different species of animals, mice, dogs and guinea pigs, against challenge with T. cruzi. In a previous work, we demonstrated that mice vaccinated with T. rangeli showed important soluble mediators that stimulate phagocytic activity versus only infected groups. The aim of this work was to study the innate immune response in mice vaccinated or not with T. rangeli. Different population cells and some soluble mediators (cytokines) in peritoneal fluid and plasma in mice vaccinated-infected and only infected with T. cruzi were studied. In the first hours of challenge vaccinated mice showed an increase of macrophages, NK, granulocytes, and regulation of IL6, IFNγ, TNFα and IL10, with an increase of IL12, with respect to only infected mice. Furthermore an increase was observed of Li T, Li B responsible for adaptative response. Finally the findings showed that the innate immune response plays an important role in vaccinated mice for the early elimination of the parasites, complementary with the adaptative immune response, suggesting that vaccination with T. rangeli modulates the innate response, which develops some kind of immunological memory, recognizing shared antigens with T. cruzi. These results could contribute to the knowledge of new mechanisms which would have an important role in the immune response to Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Basso
- Department of Paediatrics, Neonatology Service, Medicine School, National Cordoba University, Argentina; National Co-ordination of Vector Control, Argentina.
| | - V Marini
- Department of Immunology Medicine School, Catholic University of Cordoba, Argentina
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21
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Calvo-Álvarez E, Álvarez-Velilla R, Fernández-Prada C, Balaña-Fouce R, Reguera RM. Trypanosomatids see the light: recent advances in bioimaging research. Drug Discov Today 2014; 20:114-21. [PMID: 25256779 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2014.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2014] [Revised: 07/29/2014] [Accepted: 09/16/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The use of genetically engineered pathogens that express fluorescent or luminescent proteins represents a huge stride forward in the understanding of trypanosomatid-borne tropical diseases. Nowadays, such modified microorganisms are being used to screen thousands of compounds under a target-free (phenotypic) approach. In addition, experimental infections with transgenic parasites drastically reduce the number of animals required for preclinical studies, because no animal needs to be put down to assess its parasite load. Finally, the use of fluorescent parasites is contributing to unraveling genetic exchange events between trypanosomatid strains. This phenomenon is important for understanding the mechanism by which traits such as virulence, tissue tropism, and drug resistance are transferred, as well as the emergence of novel strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estefanía Calvo-Álvarez
- Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain
| | - Raquel Álvarez-Velilla
- Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain
| | - Christopher Fernández-Prada
- Infectious Diseases Research Center of the CHUL of Québec and Laval University, Québec City, Québec G1V 4G2, Canada
| | - Rafael Balaña-Fouce
- Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain.
| | - Rosa M Reguera
- Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain
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