title: Proteomic aspects of Parachlamydia acanthamoebae infection in Acanthamoeba spp.
abstract: The free-living but facultatively pathogenic amoebae of the genus Acanthamoeba are frequently infected with bacterial endosymbionts that can have a profound influence on the physiology and viability of their host. Parachlamydia acanthamoebae, a chlamydial endosymbiont in acanthamoebae, is known to be either symbiotic or lytic to its host, depending on the ambient conditions, for example, temperature. Moreover, parachlamydiae can also inhibit the encystment process in Acanthamoeba, an essential survival strategy of their host for the evasion of chemotherapeutic agents, heat, desiccation and radiation. To obtain a more detailed picture of the intracellular interactions of parachlamydiae and acanthamoebae, we studied parachlamydial infection in several Acanthamoeba isolates at the proteomic level by means of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) and mass spectrometry. We observed that P. acanthamoebae can infect all three morphological subtypes of the genus Acanthamoeba and that the proteome pattern of released P. acanthamoebae elementary bodies was always practically identical regardless of the Acanthamoeba strain infected. Moreover, by comparing proteome patterns of encysting cells from infected and uninfected Acanthamoeba cultures, it was shown that encystment is blocked by P. acanthamoebae at a very early stage. Finally, on 2D-gels of purified P. acanthamoebae from culture supernatants, a subunit of the NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase complex, that is, an enzyme that has been described as an indicator for bacterial virulence was identified by a mass spectrometric and bioinformatic approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine at the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15, Vienna A-1090, Austria.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leitsch
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Köhsler
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marchetti-Deschmann
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Allmaier
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: Barbara S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Sixt
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duchêne
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walochnik
mesh_terms: D000048:Acanthamoeba / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002695:Chlamydiales / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D015800:Protozoan Proteins