title: Glycophorin A-knockout mice, which lost sialoglycoproteins from the red blood cell membrane, are resistant to lethal infection of Babesia rodhaini.
abstract: Recent in vitro-based studies using several Babesia spp. have suggested that sialic acids and/or sialoglycoproteins on host red blood cells (RBCs) play an important role in their invasion of RBCs. In the present study, we analyzed the RBC characteristics of glycophorin A (GPA)-knockout mice and studied their in vivo susceptibility to lethal infection of Babesia rodhaini for the first time. In immunoblot and lectin blot analyses, glycoproteins containing O-linked oligosaccharides terminated with alpha2-3-linked sialic acids disappeared from the RBCs of GPA homozygous ((-/-)) mice. Flow cytometric analysis showed a remarkable reduction of Maackia amurensis lectin II binding to the surface of GPA(-/-) RBCs relative to control RBCs, indicating an appreciable loss of alpha2-3-linked sialic acids on the RBC surface of GPA(-/-) mice. Importantly, while B. rodhaini caused lethal infection in wild-type mice, the infected GPA(-/-) mice showed inhibition of parasite growth and eventually survived. These results indicate that RBC sialoglycoproteins lost in GPA(-/-) mice are involved in the in vivo growth of B. rodhaini, probably functioning as essential molecule(s) for the parasite invasion of host RBCs in the blood circulation.
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takabatake
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Naoaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Yuzuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikehara
authors.forename: Nobuyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akimitsu
authors.forename: Nagisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arimitsu
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamamoto
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekimizu
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Igarashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens; D001403:Babesia / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000662:veterinary; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique / Q000662:veterinary; D006021:Glycophorins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D006021:Glycophorins; D009844:Oligosaccharides