Cell Adhesion in Trypanosoma: In Vitro Studies of the Interaction of Trypanosoma vivax with Immobilized Organic Dyes1

Abstract

Certain bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma vivax have been shown to attach to Amicon Matrex Gel Green A dye beads in a manner similar to the in vivo binding of T. vivax to the inner surface of the tsetse fly proboscis. We now report an in vitro assay for trypanosome-bead attachment and show that only the 9,10-anthraquinone portion of the dye molecule is involved in the binding of trypanosomes to beads and that bead-bound dyes with similar structures also support binding to differing degrees. The binding is dependent upon the amount of dye on the beads and this, and other evidence, suggests that an array of dye molecules, rather than individual molecules, may be the actual recognition site. Various external effectors, including temperature, soluble protein-dye complexes, and serum of mice with chronic T. vivax infections, reduce trypanosome binding, indicating that at least one immunogenic trypanosome macromolecule is involved. The trypanosome-bead interaction mimics the in vivo binding to tsetse proboscis and warrants closer examination as a model of trypanosome cell adhesion in the tsetse fly.

Hydrophobic attachment of Trypanosoma cruzi to a superficial layer of the rectal cuticle in the bug Triatoma infestans

“…Hydrophobic attachment is probably widespread among kinetoplastid species found in arthropods. From the ultrastructural appearance of parasite associations with foregut or hindgut cuticles (Brooker 1971;Vickerman 1973;Molyneux and Ashford 1983;Vickerman and Tetley 1990), along with reported binding to plastic materials (Hommel and Robertson 1976;Fish et al 1987;Vickerman et al 1988), it can be suspected that T. congolense, T. brucei, and T. vivax at the mouthparts of tsetse¯ies, certain stages of Leishmania species at the pharynx or hindgut of sand¯ies, and many other homo-or heteroxenous trypanosomatids attach hydrophobically to a lipid super®cial layer of the vectors.…”

Tripanossomas de ungulados no Brasil e na África: novas abordagens em estudos epidemiológicos de genótipos, vetores e reservatórios, e patologia de isolados Brasileiros.

“…Testes posteriores utilizaram formas tripomastigotas sanguíneas coletadas em bovinos experimentalmente infectados, que evidenciaram a diferenciação destas formas em formas epimastigotas, sem o uso de células de tecidos de inseto ou de mamíferos; porém, não foi possível a manutenção contínua por passagens sucessivas (Isoun, Isoun, 1974). Outros ensaios, também dependentes de monocamadas de células, com subsequente adaptação ao cultivo axênico das formas epimastigotas e tripomastigotas metacíclicas, foram propostos por vários grupos (Fish et al, 1987;Gumm, 1991;Hirumi et al, 1983Hirumi et al, , 1991Rebeski et al, 1999;Zweygarth et al, 1991).…”