ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Trypanosoma rangeli is a protozoan parasite that is non-virulent to the mammalian host and is morphologically and genomically related to Trypanosoma cruzi, whose proliferation within the mammalian host is controversially discussed. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the T. rangeli cell cycle in vitro and in vivo by characterizing the timespan of the parasite life cycle and by proposing a molecular marker to assess cytokinesis. METHODOLOGY: The morphological events and their timing during the cell cycle of T. rangeli epimastigotes were assessed using DNA staining, flagellum labelling and bromodeoxyuridine incorporation. Messenger RNA levels of four genes previously associated with the cell cycle of trypanosomatids (AUK1, PLK, MOB1 and TRACK) were evaluated in the different T. rangeli forms. FINDINGS: T. rangeli epimastigotes completed the cell cycle in vitro in 20.8â¯h. PLK emerged as a potential molecular marker for cell division, as its mRNA levels were significantly increased in exponentially growing epimastigotes compared with growth-arrested parasites or in vitro-differentiated trypomastigotes. PLK expression in T. rangeli can be detected near the flagellum protrusion site, reinforcing its role in the cell cycle. Interestingly, T. rangeli bloodstream trypomastigotes exhibited very low mRNA levels of PLK and were almost entirely composed of parasites in G1 phase. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Our work is the first to describe the T. rangeli cell cycle in vitro and proposes that PLK mRNA levels could be a useful tool to investigate the T. rangeli ability to proliferate within the mammalian host bloodstream.
Subject(s)
Cell Cycle Proteins/genetics , Cell Cycle/genetics , Cytokinesis/physiology , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics , RNA, Messenger/analysis , Trypanosoma rangeli/cytology , Animals , Bromodeoxyuridine/metabolism , Cell Cycle/drug effects , Cytokinesis/genetics , DNA, Protozoan/chemistry , DNA, Protozoan/isolation & purification , Flow Cytometry , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Hydroxyurea/pharmacology , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors/pharmacology , RNA, Protozoan/genetics , RNA, Protozoan/isolation & purification , Time Factors , Trypanosoma rangeli/drug effects , Trypanosoma rangeli/enzymology , Trypanosoma rangeli/genetics , Trypanosomiasis/parasitology , Polo-Like Kinase 1ABSTRACT
In this study, we performed the molecular and biochemical characterization of an ecto-enzyme present in Trypanosoma rangeli that is involved with the hydrolysis of extracellular inorganic pyrophosphate. PCR analysis identified a putative proton-pyrophosphatase (H(+)-PPase) in the epimastigote forms of T. rangeli. This protein was recognized with Western blot and flow cytometry analysis using an antibody against the H(+)-PPase of Arabidopsis thaliana. Immunofluorescence microscopy confirmed that this protein is located in the plasma membrane of T. rangeli. Biochemical assays revealed that the optimum pH for the ecto-PPase activity was 7.5, as previously demonstrated for other organisms. Sodium fluoride (NaF) and aminomethylenediphosphonate (AMDP) were able to inhibit approximately 75% and 90% of the ecto-PPase activity, respectively. This ecto-PPase activity was stimulated in a dose-dependent manner by MgCl2. In the presence of MgCl2, this activity was inhibited by millimolar concentrations of CaCl2. The ecto-PPase activity of T. rangeli decreased with increasing cell proliferation in vitro, thereby suggesting a role for this enzyme in the acquisition of inorganic phosphate (Pi). Moreover, this activity was modulated by the extracellular concentration of Pi and increased approximately two-fold when the cells were maintained in culture medium depleted of Pi. All of these results confirmed the occurrence of an ecto-PPase located in the plasma membrane of T. rangeli that possibly plays an important role in phosphate metabolism of this protozoan.
