Cirelli Cecília, Rodrigues Isabela Aurora, Vitório Jéssica Gardone, Duarte-Andrade Filipe Fideles, Canuto Gisele André Baptista, André Leiliane Coelho, de Toledo Juliano Simões, Fernandes Ana Paula, Costa Adriana Oliveira
Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Departamento de Clínica, Patologia e Cirurgia Odontológicas, Faculdade de Odontologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
J Eukaryot Microbiol. 2025 Sep-Oct;72(5):e70034. doi: 10.1111/jeu.70034.
The genus Acanthamoeba includes widespread protozoa that can cause severe infections in humans. Their ability to form resistant cysts within infected tissues complicates treatment, making it essential to understand the encystation process for developing effective therapeutic strategies. This study utilized untargeted metabolomics (GC-MS) to analyze metabolic changes during the encystation of an Acanthamoeba strain in Neff's encystation saline. We conducted metabolite analysis at three stages of differentiation: the trophozoite-dominant phase (0 h), the pre-cyst-dominant phase (24 h), and the cyst-dominant phase (72 h). The results indicated a global metabolic downregulation during encystation, which is consistent with a state of dormancy. Components of the cyst wall such as cellobiose and lactose accumulated in the final phase. Arbutin and canavanine were annotated for the first time in Acanthamoeba. Encystation also led to changes in pathways related to glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism and biosynthesis of aminoacyl-tRNA. This study uncovered previously unknown metabolites and metabolic pathways at distinct stages of Acanthamoeba development.
棘阿米巴属包括广泛存在的原生动物，可导致人类严重感染。它们在受感染组织内形成抗性囊肿的能力使治疗变得复杂，因此了解包囊形成过程对于制定有效的治疗策略至关重要。本研究利用非靶向代谢组学（气相色谱 - 质谱联用）分析了棘阿米巴菌株在Neff包囊化盐溶液中包囊形成过程中的代谢变化。我们在分化的三个阶段进行了代谢物分析：滋养体主导阶段（0小时）、前包囊主导阶段（24小时）和包囊主导阶段（72小时）。结果表明，包囊形成过程中整体代谢下调，这与休眠状态一致。在最后阶段，细胞壁成分如纤维二糖和乳糖积累。熊果苷和刀豆氨酸首次在棘阿米巴中被注释。包囊形成还导致了与甘氨酸、丝氨酸和苏氨酸代谢以及氨酰 - tRNA生物合成相关的途径发生变化。本研究揭示了棘阿米巴发育不同阶段以前未知的代谢物和代谢途径。
