Laboratory of Biochemistry of Tryps - LaBTryps - Department of Parasitology, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas II, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Laboratório de Ciclo Celular - Instituto Butantan, São Paulo-SP, Brazil; Centro de Toxinas, Resposta Imune e Sinalização Celular (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024 Oct 9;18(10):e0012588. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012588. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, has a complex life cycle that involves triatomine insects as vectors and mammals as hosts. The differentiation of epimastigote forms into metacyclic trypomastigotes within the insect vector is crucial for the parasite's life cycle progression. Factors influencing this process, including temperature, pH, and nutritional stress, along with specific metabolite availability, play a pivotal role. Amino acids like proline, histidine, and glutamine support cell differentiation, while branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) inhibit it. Interestingly, combining the pro-metacyclogenic amino acid proline with one of the anti-metacyclogenic BCAAs results in viable metacyclics with significantly reduced infectivity. To explore the characteristics of metacyclic parasites differentiated in the presence of BCAAs, proteomics analyses were conducted. Metacyclics obtained in triatomine artificial urine (TAU) supplemented with proline alone and in combination with leucine, isoleucine, or valine were compared. The analyses revealed differential regulation of 40 proteins in TAU-Pro-Leu, 131 in TAU-Pro-Ile, and 179 in TAU-Pro-Val, as compared to metacyclics from TAU-Pro. Among these, 22%, 11%, and 13% of the proteins were associated with metabolic processes, respectively. Notably, enzymes related to glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle were reduced in metacyclics with Pro-BCAAs, while enzymes involved in amino acid and purine metabolic pathways were increased. Furthermore, metacyclics with Pro-Ile and Pro-Val exhibited elevated enzymes linked to lipid and redox metabolism. The results revealed five proteins that were increased and four that were decreased in common in the presence of Pro+BCAAs, indicating their possible participation in key processes related to metacyclogenesis. These findings suggest that the presence of BCAAs can reshape the metabolism of metacyclics, contributing to the observed reduction in infectivity in these parasites.
克氏锥虫,恰加斯病的病原体,具有复杂的生命周期,涉及到锥蝽昆虫作为媒介和哺乳动物作为宿主。在昆虫媒介中,从肠内体形式分化为循环型锥鞭毛体对于寄生虫的生命周期进展至关重要。影响这个过程的因素,包括温度、pH 值和营养压力,以及特定代谢物的可用性,都起着关键作用。氨基酸,如脯氨酸、组氨酸和谷氨酰胺,支持细胞分化,而支链氨基酸(BCAAs)则抑制它。有趣的是,将促进循环型分化的前代谢氨基酸脯氨酸与一种抗代谢的 BCAAs 结合使用,会导致具有显著降低感染性的可行循环型寄生虫。为了探索在 BCAAs 存在下分化的循环型寄生虫的特征,进行了蛋白质组学分析。比较了在三锥人工尿(TAU)中单独添加脯氨酸以及与亮氨酸、异亮氨酸或缬氨酸结合获得的循环型寄生虫。分析显示,与 TAU-Pro 相比,TAU-Pro-Leu 中有 40 种蛋白差异调节,TAU-Pro-Ile 中有 131 种蛋白差异调节,TAU-Pro-Val 中有 179 种蛋白差异调节。其中,分别有 22%、11%和 13%的蛋白与代谢过程相关。值得注意的是,在 Pro-BCAAs 存在的情况下,与糖酵解和三羧酸(TCA)循环相关的酶减少,而与氨基酸和嘌呤代谢途径相关的酶增加。此外,Pro-Ile 和 Pro-Val 存在的循环型寄生虫中与脂质和氧化还原代谢相关的酶升高。结果显示,在 Pro+BCAAs 存在的情况下,有五个蛋白增加,四个蛋白减少,这表明它们可能参与了与循环型形成相关的关键过程。这些发现表明,BCAAs 的存在可以重塑循环型寄生虫的代谢,导致这些寄生虫感染性降低。