title: Recently differentiated epimastigotes from Trypanosoma cruzi are infective to the mammalian host.
abstract: Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, has a complex life cycle in which four distinct developmental forms alternate between the insect vector and the mammalian host. It is assumed that replicating epimastigotes present in the insect gut are not infective to mammalian host, a paradigm corroborated by the widely acknowledged fact that only this stage is susceptible to the complement system. In the present work, we establish a T. cruzi in vitro and in vivo epimastigogenesis model to analyze the biological aspects of recently differentiated epimastigotes (rdEpi). We show that both trypomastigote stages of T. cruzi (cell-derived and metacyclic) are able to transform into epimastigotes (processes termed primary and secondary epimastigogenesis, respectively) and that rdEpi have striking properties in comparison to long-term cultured epimastigotes: resistance to complement-mediated lysis and both in vitro (cell culture) and in vivo (mouse) infectivity. Proteomics analysis of all T. cruzi stages reveled a cluster of proteins that were up-regulated only in rdEpi (including ABC transporters and ERO1), suggesting a role for them in rdEpi virulence. The present work introduces a new experimental model for the study of host-parasite interactions, showing that rdEpi can be infective to the mammalian host.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael Luis
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Protozoología, Centro de Biología Molecular de Parásitos, Facultad Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Víctor Tulio
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Contreras
authors.affiliation: Vector Behavior and Pathogen Interaction Group, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Newmar Pinto
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Marliére
authors.affiliation: Vector Behavior and Pathogen Interaction Group, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aparecida Guarneri
authors.affiliation: Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luz Helena
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Villamizar Silva
authors.affiliation: Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giovanny Augusto Camacho Antevere
authors.initials: GACA
authors.lastname: Mazzarotto
authors.affiliation: Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Processos Biotecnológicos e Biotecnologia, Centro Politécnico, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vanete Thomaz
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Soccol
authors.affiliation: Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Aurelio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Krieger
authors.affiliation: Instituto Carlos Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Christian Macagnan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9993-6375
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Probst
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000469:parasitology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D015800:Protozoan Proteins