| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Barison, Maria Julia
;
Rapado, Ludmila Nakamura
;
Merino, Emilio F.
;
Furusho Pral, Elizabeth Mieko
;
Mantilla, Brian Suarez
;
Marchese, Leticia
;
Nowicki, Cristina
;
Silber, Ariel Mariano
;
Cassera, Maria Belen
Total Authors: 9
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | Journal of Biological Chemistry; v. 292, n. 21, p. 8964-8977, MAY 26 2017. |
| Web of Science Citations: | 14 |
| Abstract | |
Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, is a protozoan parasite with a complex life cycle involving a triatomine insect and mammals. Throughout its life cycle, the T. cruzi parasite faces several alternating events of cell division and cell differentiation in which exponential and stationary growth phases play key biological roles. It is well accepted that arrest of the cell division in the epimastigote stage, both in the midgut of the triatomine insect and in vitro, is required for metacyclogenesis, and it has been previously shown that the parasites change the expression profile of several proteins when entering this quiescent stage. However, little is known about the metabolic changes that epimastigotes undergo before they develop into the metacyclic trypomastigote stage. We applied targeted metabolomics to measure the metabolic intermediates in the most relevant pathways for energy metabolism and oxidative imbalance in exponentially growing and stationary growth-arrested epimastigote parasites. We show for the first time that T. cruzi epimastigotes transitioning from the exponential to the stationary phase exhibit a finely tuned adaptive metabolic mechanism that enables switching from glucose to amino acid consumption, which is more abundant in the stationary phase. This metabolic plasticity appears to be crucial for survival of the T. cruzi parasite in the myriad different environmental conditions to which it is exposed during its life cycle. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 16/06034-2 - The biological role of amino acids and their metabolites in Trypanosoma cruzi |
| Grantee: | Ariel Mariano Silber |
| Support Opportunities: | Research Projects - Thematic Grants |
| FAPESP's process: | 13/18970-6 - Characterization of the Disulfiram effect in Trypanosoma cruzi |
| Grantee: | Ariel Mariano Silber |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |