Role of apolipoprotein E (apoE) isoforms in cholesterol flux of Leishmania spp. infected macrophages

• Grant number: 12/24452-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: February 15, 2014
• End date: February 14, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Eduardo Martins Ribolla
• Grantee: Diego Peres Alonso
• Supervisor: Toni Aebischer
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 10/19973-0 - The role of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors alpha (PPARalfa) as a genetic risk factor in Visceral Leishmaniasis., BP.PD

Abstract

Lipid disorders have been reported in human patients and even in domestic dogs with active visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The LV in Brazil is a parasitic disease caused by infection of host macrophages by the protozoan Leishmania infantum chagasi and transmitted by the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis, the main reservoirs are wild canids and domestic dogs. Several studies have shown a proven relationship between serum lipid levels and infection by Leishmania infantum chagasi, and others more recently shown that specific genotypes of apoE are associated with susceptibility to LV, so the aim of this project is to evaluate the role of different isoforms of apoE on the viability of Leishmania spp. within the host cell taking into account genotype-specific effects of this protein in the flow of cholesterol in macrophages. Furthermore, the possible differences in flow cholesterol are correlated with alterations in membrane integrity of the infected macrophage, since cholesterol plays an essential role in the organization of "lipid rafts" fundamental structures in the process of signal transduction and antigens presentation. (AU)