Comparative analysis of megasomes in members of the Leishmania mexicana complex

Three types of Leishmania mexicana amastigotes: Proteome comparison by quantitative proteomic analysis

Leishmania is the unicellular parasite transmitted by phlebotomine sand fly bite. It exists in two different forms; extracellular promastigotes, occurring in the gut of sand flies, and intracellular, round-shaped amastigotes residing mainly in vertebrate macrophages. As amastigotes originating from infected animals are often present in insufficient quality and quantity, two alternative types of amastigotes were introduced for laboratory experiments: axenic amastigotes and amastigotes from macrophages infected in vitro. Nevertheless, there is very little information about the degree of similarity/difference among these three types of amastigotes on proteomic level, whose comparison is crucial for assessing the suitability of using alternative types of amastigotes in experiments. In this study, L. mexicana amastigotes obtained from lesion of infected BALB/c mice were proteomically compared with alternatively cultivated amastigotes (axenic and macrophage-derived ones). Amastigotes of all three types were isolated, individually treated and analysed by LC-MS/MS proteomic analysis with quantification using TMT10-plex isobaric labeling. Significant differences were observed in the abundance of metabolic enzymes, virulence factors and proteins involved in translation and condensation of DNA. The most pronounced differences were observed between axenic amastigotes and lesion-derived amastigotes, macrophage-derived amastigotes were mostly intermediate between axenic and lesion-derived ones.

Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease: Is there hope in nanotechnology to fight neglected tropical diseases?

Nanotechnology is revolutionizing many sectors of science, from food preservation to healthcare to energy applications. Since 1995, when the first nanomedicines started being commercialized, drug developers have relied on nanotechnology to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of bioactive molecules. The development of advanced nanomaterials has greatly enhanced drug discovery through improved pharmacotherapeutic effects and reduction of toxicity and side effects. Therefore, highly toxic treatments such as cancer chemotherapy, have benefited from nanotechnology. Considering the toxicity of the few therapeutic options to treat neglected tropical diseases, such as leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, nanotechnology has also been explored as a potential innovation to treat these diseases. However, despite the significant research progress over the years, the benefits of nanotechnology for both diseases are still limited to preliminary animal studies, raising the question about the clinical utility of nanomedicines in this field. From this perspective, this review aims to discuss recent nanotechnological developments, the advantages of nanoformulations over current leishmanicidal and trypanocidal drugs, limitations of nano-based drugs, and research gaps that still must be filled to make these novel drug delivery systems a reality for leishmaniasis and Chagas disease treatment.

Serine protease activities in Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi promastigotes

The present work reports the isolation, biochemical characterization, and subcellular location of serine proteases from aqueous, detergent soluble, and culture supernatant of Leishmania chagasi promastigote extracts, respectively, LCSII, LCSI, and LCSIII. The active enzyme molecular masses of LCSII were about 105, 66, and 60 kDa; of LCSI, 60 and 58 kDa; and of LCSIII, approximately 76 and 68 kDa. Optimal pH for the enzymes was 7.0 for LCSI and LCSIII and 8.5 for LCSII, and the optimal temperature for all enzymes was 37°C, using α-N-ρ-tosyl-L: -arginine methyl ester as substrate. Assay of thermal stability indicated that LCSIII is the more stable enzyme. Hemoglobin, bovine serum albumin, and ovalbumin were hydrolyzed by LCSII and LCSI but not by LCSIII. Inhibition studies suggested that enzymes belong to the serine protease class modulated by divalent cations. Rabbit antiserum against 56-kDa serine protease of Leishmania amazonensis identified proteins in all extracts of L. chagasi. Furthermore, immunocytochemistry demonstrated that serine proteases are located in flagellar pocket region and cytoplasmic vesicles of L. chagasi promastigotes. These findings indicate that L. chagasi serine proteases differ from L. amazonensis proteases and all known flagellate proteases, but display some similarities with serine proteases from other Leishmania species, suggesting a conservation of this enzymatic activity in the genus.

Characterization of Leishmania (Leishmania) tropica axenic amastigotes

Optimum conditions for generating Leishmania (Leishmania) tropica axenic amastigotes (AxA) in culture were determined, pH 5.5/36 degrees C, and the parasites characterized by different techniques, including light microscopy, macrophage infection, stage specific antigen expression and differential display. AxA were morphologically similar to amastigotes and 15.5-fold more infective than stationary phase promastigotes for mouse peritoneal macrophages. Western blotting with promastigote stage specific monoclonal antibodies to either lipophosphoglycan (T2) or a 60 kDa flagella antigen (F3) showed a dramatic decrease in antigen expression when AxA were compared to promastigotes. Similarly F3 gave strong immune fluorescent staining of the promastigote flagellum, but no fluorescence was detected when AxA were examined. Conversely, Western blotting with the amastigote specific monoclonal antibody (T16) showed that this antigen is more highly expressed in AxA than promastigotes. Differential display-PCR was used to identify several parasite genes showing stage specific expression. One gene selectively expressed by AxA was partially sequenced and identified as Leishmania (L.) tropicaamastin. Amastigote specific expression of this gene was further confirmed by reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) using AxA and infected macrophages. No amastin expression was observed with promastigotes. Expression of the cysteine protease B (cpb) and protein kinase A catalytic isoform 1 subunit (pkac1) in promastigotes and AxA was also examined by RT-PCR. Pkac1 was strongly expressed by promastigotes, while cpb expression was only seen with AxA or infected macrophages. L. (L.) tropica AxA will prove useful for further studies on parasite differentiation and gene regulation, as well as for drug screening.

In vitro susceptibilities of Leishmania donovani promastigote and amastigote stages to antileishmanial reference drugs: practical relevance of stage-specific differences

The in vitro susceptibilities of the reference strain Leishmania donovani MHOM/ET/67/L82 to sodium stibogluconate, amphotericin B, miltefosine, and the experimental compound PX-6518 were determined for extracellular log-phase promastigotes, established axenic amastigotes, fresh spleen-derived amastigotes, and intracellular amastigotes in primary mouse peritoneal macrophages. Susceptibility to amphotericin B did not differ across the various axenic models (50% inhibitory concentrations [IC50], 0.6 to 0.7 microM), and amphotericin B showed slightly higher potency against intracellular amastigotes (IC50, 0.1 to 0.4 microM). A similar trend was observed for miltefosine, with comparable efficacies against the extracellular (IC50, 0.4 to 3.8 microM) and intracellular (IC50, 0.9 to 4.3 microM) stages. Sodium stibogluconate, used either as Pentostam or as a crystalline substance, was inactive against all axenic stages (IC50, >64 microg SbV/ml) but showed good efficacy against intracellular amastigotes (IC50, 22 to 28 microg SbV/ml); the crystalline substance was about two to three times more potent (IC50, 9 to 11 microg SbV/ml). The activity profile of PX-6518 was comparable to that of sodium stibogluconate, but at a much higher potency (IC50, 0.1 microg/ml). In conclusion, the differential susceptibility determines which in vitro models are appropriate for either drug screening or resistance monitoring of clinical field isolates. Despite the more complex and labor-intensive protocol, the current results support the intracellular amastigote model as the gold standard for in vitro Leishmania drug discovery research and for evaluation of the resistance of field strains, since it also includes host cell-mediated effects. Axenic systems can be recommended only for compounds for which no cellular mechanisms are involved, for example, amphotericin B and miltefosine.

Electron microscopy and cytochemistry analysis of the endocytic pathway of pathogenic protozoa

Endocytosis is essential for eukaryotic cell survival and has been well characterized in mammal and yeast cells. Among protozoa it is also important for evading from host immune defenses and to support intense proliferation characteristic of some life cycle stages. Here we focused on the contribution of morphological and cytochemical studies to the understanding of endocytosis in Trichomonas, Giardia, Entamoeba, Plasmodium, and trypanosomatids, mainly Trypanosoma cruzi, and also Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania.

Modulation of dendritic cell function by Leishmania parasites

The interactions between Leishmania parasites and dendritic cells (DCs) are complex and involve paradoxical functions that can stimulate or halt T cell responses, leading to the control of infection or progression of disease. The magnitude and profile of DC activation vary greatly, depending upon the Leishmania species/strains, developmental stages, DC subsets, serum opsonization, and exogenous DC stimuli involved in the study. In general, the uptake of Leishmania parasites alone can trigger relatively weak and transient DC activation; however, the intracellular parasites (amastigotes) are capable of down-modulating LPS/IFN-gamma-stimulated DC activation via multiple mechanisms. This review will highlight current data regarding the initial interaction of DC subsets with invading parasites, the alterations of DC signaling pathways and function by amastigotes, and the impact of DC functions on protective immunity and disease pathogenesis. Available information provides insight into the mechanisms by which DCs discriminate between the types of pathogens and regulate appropriate immune responses.