Takabatake N, Okamura M, Yokoyama N, Ikehara Y, Akimitsu N, Arimitsu N, Hamamoto H, Sekimizu K, Suzuki H, Igarashi I. Glycophorin A-knockout mice, which lost sialoglycoproteins from the red blood cell membrane, are resistant to lethal infection of Babesia rodhaini.
Vet Parasitol 2007;
148:93-101. [PMID:
17651898 DOI:
10.1016/j.vetpar.2007.06.011]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2007] [Revised: 05/18/2007] [Accepted: 06/01/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Recent in vitro-based studies using several Babesia spp. have suggested that sialic acids and/or sialoglycoproteins on host red blood cells (RBCs) play an important role in their invasion of RBCs. In the present study, we analyzed the RBC characteristics of glycophorin A (GPA)-knockout mice and studied their in vivo susceptibility to lethal infection of Babesia rodhaini for the first time. In immunoblot and lectin blot analyses, glycoproteins containing O-linked oligosaccharides terminated with alpha2-3-linked sialic acids disappeared from the RBCs of GPA homozygous ((-/-)) mice. Flow cytometric analysis showed a remarkable reduction of Maackia amurensis lectin II binding to the surface of GPA(-/-) RBCs relative to control RBCs, indicating an appreciable loss of alpha2-3-linked sialic acids on the RBC surface of GPA(-/-) mice. Importantly, while B. rodhaini caused lethal infection in wild-type mice, the infected GPA(-/-) mice showed inhibition of parasite growth and eventually survived. These results indicate that RBC sialoglycoproteins lost in GPA(-/-) mice are involved in the in vivo growth of B. rodhaini, probably functioning as essential molecule(s) for the parasite invasion of host RBCs in the blood circulation.
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