A cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in Trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization.
Parasitological cure for Chagas disease is considered extremely difficult to achieve because of the lack of effective chemotherapeutic agents against Trypanosoma cruzi at different stages of infection. There are currently only two drugs available. These have several limitations and can produce serio...
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| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002676 |
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| author | Patricio R Orrego Héctor Olivares Esteban M Cordero Albert Bressan Mauro Cortez Hernán Sagua Ivan Neira Jorge González José Franco da Silveira Nobuko Yoshida Jorge E Araya |
| author_facet | Patricio R Orrego Héctor Olivares Esteban M Cordero Albert Bressan Mauro Cortez Hernán Sagua Ivan Neira Jorge González José Franco da Silveira Nobuko Yoshida Jorge E Araya |
| author_sort | Patricio R Orrego |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Parasitological cure for Chagas disease is considered extremely difficult to achieve because of the lack of effective chemotherapeutic agents against Trypanosoma cruzi at different stages of infection. There are currently only two drugs available. These have several limitations and can produce serious side effects. Thus, new chemotherapeutic targets are much sought after. Among T. cruzi components involved in key processes such as parasite proliferation and host cell invasion, Ca(2+)-dependent molecules play an important role. Calcineurin (CaN) is one such molecule. In this study, we cloned a new isoform of the gene coding for CL strain catalytic subunit CaNA (TcCaNA2) and characterized it molecularly and functionally. There is one copy of the TcCaNA2 gene per haploid genome. It is constitutively transcribed in all T. cruzi developmental forms and is localized predominantly in the cytosol. In the parasite, TcCaNA2 is associated with CaNB. The recombinant protein TcCaNA2 has phosphatase activity that is enhanced by Mn(2+)/Ni(2+). The participation of TcCaNA2 in target cell invasion by metacyclic trypomastigotes was also demonstrated. Metacyclic forms with reduced TcCaNA2 expression following treatment with morpholino antisense oligonucleotides targeted to TcCaNA2 invaded HeLa cells at a lower rate than control parasites treated with morpholino sense oligonucleotides. Similarly, the decreased expression of TcCaNA2 following treatment with antisense morpholino oligonucleotides partially affected the replication of epimastigotes, although to a lesser extent than the decrease in expression following treatment with calcineurin inhibitors. Our findings suggest that the calcineurin activities of TcCaNA2/CaNB and TcCaNA/CaNB, which have distinct cellular localizations (the cytoplasm and the nucleus, respectively), may play a critical role at different stages of T. cruzi development, the former in host cell invasion and the latter in parasite multiplication. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-97aa5ec72a5a4dec8bdd417995a58c16 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| spelling | doaj-art-97aa5ec72a5a4dec8bdd417995a58c162025-08-20T03:25:37ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352014-01-0181e267610.1371/journal.pntd.0002676A cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in Trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization.Patricio R OrregoHéctor OlivaresEsteban M CorderoAlbert BressanMauro CortezHernán SaguaIvan NeiraJorge GonzálezJosé Franco da SilveiraNobuko YoshidaJorge E ArayaParasitological cure for Chagas disease is considered extremely difficult to achieve because of the lack of effective chemotherapeutic agents against Trypanosoma cruzi at different stages of infection. There are currently only two drugs available. These have several limitations and can produce serious side effects. Thus, new chemotherapeutic targets are much sought after. Among T. cruzi components involved in key processes such as parasite proliferation and host cell invasion, Ca(2+)-dependent molecules play an important role. Calcineurin (CaN) is one such molecule. In this study, we cloned a new isoform of the gene coding for CL strain catalytic subunit CaNA (TcCaNA2) and characterized it molecularly and functionally. There is one copy of the TcCaNA2 gene per haploid genome. It is constitutively transcribed in all T. cruzi developmental forms and is localized predominantly in the cytosol. In the parasite, TcCaNA2 is associated with CaNB. The recombinant protein TcCaNA2 has phosphatase activity that is enhanced by Mn(2+)/Ni(2+). The participation of TcCaNA2 in target cell invasion by metacyclic trypomastigotes was also demonstrated. Metacyclic forms with reduced TcCaNA2 expression following treatment with morpholino antisense oligonucleotides targeted to TcCaNA2 invaded HeLa cells at a lower rate than control parasites treated with morpholino sense oligonucleotides. Similarly, the decreased expression of TcCaNA2 following treatment with antisense morpholino oligonucleotides partially affected the replication of epimastigotes, although to a lesser extent than the decrease in expression following treatment with calcineurin inhibitors. Our findings suggest that the calcineurin activities of TcCaNA2/CaNB and TcCaNA/CaNB, which have distinct cellular localizations (the cytoplasm and the nucleus, respectively), may play a critical role at different stages of T. cruzi development, the former in host cell invasion and the latter in parasite multiplication.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002676 |
| spellingShingle | Patricio R Orrego Héctor Olivares Esteban M Cordero Albert Bressan Mauro Cortez Hernán Sagua Ivan Neira Jorge González José Franco da Silveira Nobuko Yoshida Jorge E Araya A cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in Trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| title | A cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in Trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization. |
| title_full | A cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in Trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization. |
| title_fullStr | A cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in Trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization. |
| title_full_unstemmed | A cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in Trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization. |
| title_short | A cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in Trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization. |
| title_sort | cytoplasmic new catalytic subunit of calcineurin in trypanosoma cruzi and its molecular and functional characterization |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002676 |
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