title: The 3A1-La monoclonal antibody reveals key features of Leishmania (L) amazonensis metacyclic promastigotes and inhibits procyclics attachment to the sand fly midgut.
abstract: In this work, we characterise metacyclic promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis, the causative agent of cutaneous and diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis in the New World. To purify metacyclics from stationary culture by negative selection, we used the monoclonal antibody 3A1-La produced against procyclic promastigotes. The purified forms named 3A1-La(-) promastigotes, present key metacyclic characteristics: slender cell body and long flagella, ultrastructural features, resistance to complement lysis, high infectivity for macrophages and mice and reduced capacity for binding to the sand fly midgut. Moreover, the epitope recognised by 3A1-La is important for the promastigote attachment to the insect vector midgut epithelium. These results further characterise 3A1-La(-) promastigotes as metacyclic forms of L. amazonensis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunobiologia das Leishmanioses, Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucia H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Pinto-da-Silva
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fampa
authors.forename: Deivid Costa
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Sandra M P
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Thais
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Souto-Padron
authors.forename: Elvira M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Saraiva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007892:Leishmania braziliensis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016774:Leishmaniasis, Diffuse Cutaneous / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008264:Macrophages / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010274:Parasitology / Q000379:methods; D011485:Protein Binding; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan