title: Activation of transforming growth factor beta by Trypanosoma cruzi.
abstract: The anti-inflammatory cytokine, transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta), plays an important role in Chagas disease, which is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. In the current study, we show that the addition of an anti-TGFbeta antibody inhibited T. cruzi infection of cardiomyocytes, demonstrating the requirement for active endogenous TGFbeta. As TGFbeta is synthesized as a biologically inactive precursor, which is proteolytically processed to yield a mature, active homodimer, we hypothesized that T. cruzi could activate latent TGFbeta. To test this, we added recombinant latent TGFbeta to a TGFbeta-responsive reporter cell line in the presence of T. cruzi. We observed that T. cruzi was able to activate latent recombinant TGFbeta in this cellular model. We then investigated the ability of T. cruzi to activate latent TGFbetain vitro. We found that live T. cruzi, or cytosolic extracts of T. cruzi, activated latent TGFbeta in a dose- and temperature-dependent manner. The agent involved in TGFbeta activation was shown to be thermolabile and hydrophobic. Taken together, our studies demonstrate that T. cruzi directly activates latent TGFbeta. This activation is required for parasite entry into the mammalian cells and is likely to play an important role in modulating the outcome of T. cruzi infection.
authors.affiliation: Lab. de Biologia Celular, Depto. de Ultra-estrutura e Biologia Celular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Waghabi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keramidas
authors.forename: J-J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Feige
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Araujo-Jorge
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bailly
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D032342:Muscle Cells / Q000469:parasitology*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D014709:Vero Cells; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta