Leishmania donovani: characteristics of adenosine and inosine transporters in promastigotes of two different strains.

The nucleoside transport characteristics of two strains of Leishmania donovani promastigotes were studied. Strain S1, growing in fully defined medium, and strain S2 (MHOM/ET/67/HA3) both transported adenosine and inosine, but only strain S1 transported uridine and thymidine. Competition studies in the presence of 100 microM of unlabeled adenosine, inosine, guanosine, 2'-deoxyadenosine, tubercidin, formycin B, 3'-deoxyinosine as well as uridine, thymidine and cytidine, with either 1 microM [3H]adenosine or [3H]inosine as permeant, were carried out. The inhibition profile with [3H]inosine as permeant was essentially identical in S1 and S2 promastigotes, indicating that the same inosine transporter was present in both strains. However, with [3H] adenosine as permeant, significant differences were noted between the two strains. Thus, only adenosine, 2'-deoxyadenosine, tubercidin, uridine, and thymidine were strongly inhibitory in S1 promastigotes, while essentially all nucleosides tested were effective in S2 promastigotes. This indicates that adenosine transport in S2 promastigotes seems to involve a transporter differing from that described for S1 promastigotes.