Current understanding of the Trypanosoma cruzi-cardiomyocyte interaction

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, exhibits multiple strategies to ensure its establishment and persistence in the host. Although this parasite has the ability to infect different organs, heart impairment is the most frequent clinical manifestation of the disease. Advances in knowledge of T. cruzi-cardiomyocyte interactions have contributed to a better understanding of the biological events involved in the pathogenesis of Chagas disease. This brief review focuses on the current understanding of molecules involved in T. cruzi-cardiomyocyte recognition, the mechanism of invasion, and on the effect of intracellular development of T. cruzi on the structural organization and molecular response of the target cell.

Molecular Mechanisms Associated With Donor-Specific Microchimerism in Peripheral Blood of Brazilian Patients After Liver Transplantation

A large number of studies in liver transplantation have demonstrated allogeneic microchimerism. The clinical and immunologic implications of this finding remain inconclusive, just as the influence of HLA mismatch and donor alloreactivity also are controversial. The present study analyzed the presence of allogeneic microchimerism in liver transplant recipients in relation to donor leukocyte kinetics and rejection episodes. The study was extended to determining the influence of immunogenetic factors in patients after liver transplantation. The presence of allogeneic microchimerism was analyzed on peripheral blood of 50 recipients. DNA extracted from the samples was subjected to typing for HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 alleles by polymerase chain reactions using sequence-specific primers (PCR/SSP). Microchimerism was identified by nested PCR/SSP. Microchimerism was detected in 72% of patients. There was significant effect of microchimerism on rejection episodes (P=.002), while HLA mismatches did not show significance for one or two mismatches (P=.98). Allogeneic microchimerism detected in the majority of liver transplant patients was observed to be significantly associated with rejection episodes.

Cell-surface sialoglycoconjugate structures in wild-type and mutant Crithidia fasciculata

The cell-surface expression of sialoglycoconjugate structures in wild-type Crithidia fasciculata and its TFR(R1) drug-resistant mutant was analyzed with the aid of an influenza C virus strain, lectin, enzymatic treatment, and flow cytofluorimetry analysis probed with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled (FITC) lectins. 9-O-Acetyl-N-acetyl neuraminic acid (Neu5,9Ac2) structures mediate influenza C virus cell-binding. The SAalpha2,3Gal and SAalpha2,6Gal sequences are specifically recognized by Maackia amurensis (MAA) and Sambucus nigra (SNA) lectins, respectively. On the basis of these parameters the TFR(R1) mutant strain of C. fasciculata was found to contain exposed sialoglycoconjugates bearing Neu5,9Ac2 surface structures. After the removal of sialic acid residues by neuraminidase activity the marked increases in PNA (peanut agglutinin)-mediated agglutinating activity showed that those acidic units on C. fasciculata cells were glycosidically linked to D-galactose. The bond involves SAalpha2,6Gal and SAalpha2,3Gal linkages as suggested by the use of FITC-SNA and FITC-MAA lectins, respectively. Both SAalpha2,3Gal and SAalpha2,6Gal sequences were preferentially expressed by the TFR(R1) mutant. The SAalpha2,6 linkage markedly predominated. In the TFR(R1) mutant, but not in wild-type cells, two distinct populations of cells were distinguished by reactivity with FITC-SNA, one of which was enriched with surface SAalpha2,6Gal sequences. These diverse findings suggest that sialoglycoconjugate structures present on the flagellate surface may be associated with mutation and the cell growth cycle in C. fasciculata.