Amastigote Synapse: The Tricks of Trypanosoma cruzi Extracellular Amastigotes

Autor: Alexis Bonfim-Melo, Eden R. Ferreira, Pilar T. V. Florentino, Renato A. Mortara
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 9 (2018)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1664-302X
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01341
Popis: To complete its life cycle within the mammalian host, Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas’ disease, must enter cells. Trypomastigotes originating from the insect vector (metacyclic) or from infected cells (bloodstream/tissue culture-derived) are the classical infective forms of the parasite and enter mammalian cells in an actin-independent manner. By contrast, amastigotes originating from the premature rupture of infected cells or transformed from swimming trypomastigotes (designated extracellular amastigotes, EAs) require functional intact microfilaments to invade non-phagocytic host cells. Earlier work disclosed the key features of EA-HeLa cell interplay: actin-rich protrusions called ‘cups’ are formed at EA invasion sites on the host cell membrane that are also enriched in actin-binding proteins, integrins and extracellular matrix elements. In the past decades we described the participation of membrane components and secreted factors from EAs as well as the actin-regulating proteins of host cells involved in what we propose to be a phagocytic-like mechanism of parasite uptake. Thus, regarding this new perspective herein we present previously described EA-induced ‘cups’ as parasitic synapse since they can play a role beyond its architecture function. In this review, we focus on recent findings that shed light on the intricate interaction between extracellular amastigotes and non-phagocytic HeLa cells.
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