1
|
Rodríguez-Durán J, Gallardo JP, Alba Soto CD, Gómez KA, Potenza M. The Kinetoplastid-Specific Protein TcCAL1 Plays Different Roles During In Vitro Differentiation and Host-Cell Invasion in Trypanosoma cruzi. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:901880. [PMID: 35846750 PMCID: PMC9280158 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.901880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In the pathogen Typanosoma cruzi, the calcium ion (Ca2+) regulates key processes for parasite survival. However, the mechanisms decoding Ca2+ signals are not fully identified or understood. Here, we investigate the role of a hypothetical Ca2+-binding protein named TcCAL1 in the in vitro life cycle of T. cruzi. Results showed that the overexpression of TcCAL1 fused to a 6X histidine tag (TcCAL1-6xHis) impaired the differentiation of epimastigotes into metacyclic trypomastigotes, significantly decreasing metacyclogenesis rates. When the virulence of transgenic metacyclic trypomastigotes was explored in mammalian cell invasion assays, we found that the percentage of infection was significantly higher in Vero cells incubated with TcCAL1-6xHis-overexpressing parasites than in controls, as well as the number of intracellular amastigotes. Additionally, the percentage of Vero cells with adhered metacyclic trypomastigotes significantly increased in samples incubated with TcCAL1-6xHis-overexpressing parasites compared with controls. In contrast, the differentiation rates from metacyclic trypomastigotes to axenic amastigotes or the epimastigote proliferation in the exponential phase of growth have not been affected by TcCAL1-6xHis overexpression. Based on our findings, we speculate that TcCAL1 exerts its function by sequestering intracellular Ca2+ by its EF-hand motifs (impairing metacyclogenesis) and/or due to an unknown activity which could be amplified by the ion binding (promoting cell invasion). This work underpins the importance of studying the kinetoplastid-specific proteins with unknown functions in pathogen parasites.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Rodríguez-Durán
- Laboratorio de Biología e Inmunología de las Infecciones por Tripanosomátidos, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular “Dr. Héctor Torres”—CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Juan Pablo Gallardo
- Laboratorio de Biología e Inmunología de las Infecciones por Tripanosomátidos, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular “Dr. Héctor Torres”—CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Catalina Dirney Alba Soto
- Instituto de Microbiología y Parasitología Médica, Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Karina Andrea Gómez
- Laboratorio de Biología e Inmunología de las Infecciones por Tripanosomátidos, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular “Dr. Héctor Torres”—CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mariana Potenza
- Laboratorio de Biología e Inmunología de las Infecciones por Tripanosomátidos, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular “Dr. Héctor Torres”—CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- *Correspondence: Mariana Potenza, ;
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Potential Role of Carvedilol in the Cardiac Immune Response Induced by Experimental Infection with Trypanosoma cruzi. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2017; 2017:9205062. [PMID: 28377930 PMCID: PMC5362721 DOI: 10.1155/2017/9205062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2016] [Revised: 02/06/2017] [Accepted: 02/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi causes a cardiac infection characterized by an inflammatory imbalance that could become the inciting factor of the illness. To this end, we evaluated the role of carvedilol, a beta-blocker with potential immunomodulatory properties, on the immune response in C57BL/6 mice infected with VL-10 strain of T. cruzi in the acute phase. Animals (n = 40) were grouped: (i) not infected, (ii) infected, (iii) infected + carvedilol, and (iv) not infected + carvedilol. We analyzed parameters related to parasitemia, plasma levels of TNF, IL-10, and CCL2, and cardiac histopathology after the administration of carvedilol for 30 days. We did not observe differences in the maximum peaks of parasitemia in the day of their detection among the groups. The plasma TNF was elevated at 60 days of infection in mice treated or not with carvedilol. However, we observed a decreased CCL2 level and increased IL-10 levels in those infected animals treated with carvedilol, which impacted the reduction of the inflammatory infiltration in cardiac tissue. For this experimental model, carvedilol therapy was not able to alter the levels of circulating parasites but modulates the pattern of CCL2 and IL-10 mediators when the VL10 strain of T. cruzi was used in C57BL6 mice.
Collapse
|
3
|
Ohyama K, Huy NT, Yoshimi H, Kishikawa N, Nishizawa JE, Roca Y, Revollo Guzmán RJ, Velarde FUG, Kuroda N, Hirayama K. Proteomic profile of circulating immune complexes in chronic Chagas disease. Parasite Immunol 2016; 38:609-17. [PMID: 27223052 DOI: 10.1111/pim.12341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2016] [Accepted: 04/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Immune complexes (ICs) are the direct and real-time products of humoral immune responses. The identification of constituent foreign or autoantigens within ICs might bring new insights into the pathology of infectious diseases. We applied immune complexome analysis of plasma to the study of Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. Twenty seropositive plasma samples including cardiac and/or megacolon determinate patients (n = 11) and indeterminate (n = 9) were analysed along with 10 seronegative individuals to characterize the antigens bound to circulating ICs. We identified 39 T. cruzi antigens and 114 human autoantigens specific to patients with Chagas. Among those antigens, two T. cruzi antigens (surface protease GP63, glucose-6-isomerase) and six human autoantigens (CD180 antigen, ceruloplasmin, fibrinogen beta chain, fibrinogen beta chain isoform 2 preprotein, isoform gamma-A of fibrinogen γ-chain, serum paraoxonase) were detected in more than 50% of the patients tested. Human isoform short of complement factor H-related protein 2 and trans-sialidase of T. cruzi were more frequently found in the indeterminate (5/9 for both) compared with in the determinate Chagas (0/11, P = 0·046 for human, 1/11, P = 0·0498 for T. cruzi). The immune complexome could illustrate the difference of immune status between clinical forms of chronic Chagas disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- K Ohyama
- Course of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.,Nagasaki University Research Centre for Genomic Instability and Carcinogenesis (NRGIC), Nagasaki, Japan
| | - N T Huy
- Department of Clinical Product Development, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - H Yoshimi
- Course of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - N Kishikawa
- Course of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
| | | | - Y Roca
- Centro Nacional de Enfermedades Tropicales (CENETROP), Santa Cruz, Bolivia
| | - R J Revollo Guzmán
- Centro Nacional de Enfermedades Tropicales (CENETROP), Santa Cruz, Bolivia
| | | | - N Kuroda
- Course of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
| | - K Hirayama
- Department of Immunogenetics, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Teh-Poot C, Tzec-Arjona E, Martínez-Vega P, Ramirez-Sierra MJ, Rosado-Vallado M, Dumonteil E. From genome screening to creation of vaccine against Trypanosoma cruzi by use of immunoinformatics. J Infect Dis 2014; 211:258-66. [PMID: 25070943 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiu418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, and activation of CD8(+) T cells is crucial for a protective immune response. Therefore, the identification of antigens with major histocompatibility complex class I epitopes is a crucial step for vaccine development against T. cruzi. Our aim was to identify novel antigens and epitopes by immunoinformatics analysis of the parasite proteome (12 969 proteins) and to validate their immunotherapeutic potential in infected mice. We identified 172 predicted epitopes, using NetMHC and RANKPEP. The corresponding protein sequences were reanalyzed to generate a consensus prediction, and 26 epitopes were selected for in vivo validation. The interferon γ (IFN-γ) recall response of splenocytes from T. cruzi-infected mice confirmed that 10 of 26 epitopes (38%) induced IFN-γ production. The immunotherapeutic potential of a mixture of all 10 peptides was evaluated in infected mice. The therapeutic vaccine was able to control T. cruzi infection, as evidenced by reduced parasitemia, cardiac tissue inflammation, and parasite burden and increased survival. These findings illustrate the benefits of this approach for the rapid development of a vaccine against pathogens with large genomes. The identified peptides and the proteins from which they are derived are excellent candidates for the development of a vaccine against T. cruzi.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christian Teh-Poot
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico
| | - Evelyn Tzec-Arjona
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico
| | - Pedro Martínez-Vega
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico
| | - Maria Jesus Ramirez-Sierra
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico
| | - Miguel Rosado-Vallado
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
| |
Collapse
|