Functional characterization of nucleoside transporter gene replacements in Leishmania donovani

Leishmania donovani express two nucleoside transporters of non-overlapping ligand selectivity. To evaluate the physiological role of nucleoside transporters in L. donovani, homozygous null mutants of the genes encoding the LdNT1 adenosine–pyrimidine nucleoside transporter and the LdNT2 inosine–guanosine transporter were created singly and in combination by single targeted gene replacement followed by selection for loss-of-heterozygosity. The mutant alleles were verified by Southern blotting, and the effects of gene replacement on transport phenotype were evaluated by rapid sampling transport measurements and by drug resistance profiles. The Δldnt1, Δldnt2, and Δldnt1/Δldnt2 mutants were all capable of proliferation in defined culture medium supplemented with any of a spectrum of purine nucleobases or nucleosides, except that a Δldnt2 lesion conferred an inability to efficiently salvage exogenous xanthosine, a newly discovered ligand of LdNT2. Each of the three knockout strains was viable as promastigotes and axenic amastigotes and capable of maintaining an infection in J774 and bone marrow-derived murine macrophages. These genetic studies demonstrate: (1) that L. donovani promastigotes, axenic amastigotes, and tissue amastigotes are viable in the absence of nucleoside transport; (2) that nucleoside transporters are not essential for sustaining an infection in mammalian host cells; (3) that the phagolysosome of macrophages is likely to contain purines that are not LdNT1 or LdNT2 ligands, i.e., nucleobases. Furthermore, the Δldnt1, Δldnt2, and Δldnt1/Δldnt2 knockouts offer a unique genetically defined null background for the biochemical and genetic characterization of nucleoside transporter genes and cDNAs from phylogenetically diverse species and of genetically manipulated LdNT1 and LdNT2 constructs.     

Biochemical alterations in paromomycin-treated Leishmania donovani promastigotes

Paromomycin is used for the treatment of leishmaniasis in humans, but little is known about its mechanism of action. Investigating the effect of this antibiotic on promastigotes of Leishmania donovani, we showed that inhibition of the multiplication of these parasites could be related to its effect on RNA synthesis and to modifications of membranous polar lipids and membrane fluidity, leading to altered membrane permeability. Received: 13 June 1996 / Accepted: 11 September 1996     

Chromosome size polymorphisms of Leishmania donovani

A minimum of 22 chromosomes were found in all Leishmania donovani stocks examined by orthogonal field alternation gel electrophoresis (OFAGE). Chromosome sizes ranged from approximately 270 to 4000 kb. Certain chromosomes were polymorphic in size between stocks and chromosomes present in some stocks had no apparent equivalent in others. Specific polymorphisms were useful in distinguishing the subspecies L. d. donovani, L. d. infantum and L. d. chagasi and African L. donovani stocks but there were karotypic differences within these taxa. Radiolabelled DNA derived from whole chromosomes was hybridised to OFAGE Southern blots. Chromosome 1 of L. d. donovani was homologous to two larger chromosomes in all stocks. Chromosome 2 of certain L. d. chagasi and L. d. infantum stocks was homologous to both chromosomes 2 and 3 of L. d. donovani: this suggested that translocation between chromosomes may have contributed to the size polymorphisms. The smallest chromosome seen (270 kb) was unique to the African stock HU3. It was not homologous to small chromosomes in L. d. donovani, L. d. infantum or L. d. chagasi. The small chromosome did hybridise to two small chromosomes in another African stock, Khartoum, and to a large chromosome present in all stocks. The beta-tubulin gene was mapped to chromosomes 21/22, 13 and 7 with strongest hybridisation to 21/22. alpha-Tubulin was mapped to chromosomes 9. The alpha- and beta-tubulin arrangement was highly conserved.     

Methylglyoxal-catabolizing enzymes of Leishmania donovani promastigotes

Methylglyoxal is a toxic metabolite with growth inhibitory properties against Leishmania donovani promastigotes. We have shown in the present study that both log and stationary phase promastigotes of L. donovani can catabolize methylglyoxal to D-lactate as the major end product. The specific activity of methylglyoxal reductase was found to be the highest of all the catabolic enzymes. In contrast, the anabolic pathway for methylglyoxal could not be detected. Moreover, when control promastigotes or promastigotes in which the glycolytic pathway was inhibited were incubated with glucose, glycerol or dihydroxyacetone phosphate as energy source, neither methylglyoxal nor D-lactate could be detected.     

Metabolism of ether lysophospholipids in Leishmania donovani promastigotes

Ether lysophospholipids, 1-O-[1'-14C]octadec-1'-enyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (A) and -phosphocholine (B) as well as 1-O-[1'-14C]octadecyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (C) and -phosphocholine (D) were taken up rapidly and metabolized extensively in Leishmania donovani promastigotes. Degradation to neutral lipids occurred first, followed by incorporation into phospholipids. Incubation of the cells with (A) or (B) revealed the stability of the O-[1-14C]octadec-1-enyl group up to 15 h, indicating the absence of any O-alk-1-enyl cleavage enzymes. Most of the radioactivity was found in 1-O-alkenyl-2-acyl-glycerophosphoethanolamine and 1-O-alkenyl-2,3-diacylglycerol. 1-O-Alkenyl-2-acyl-glycerophosphocholine was detected only after incubation with substrate (B). In contrast to the O-alk-1-enyl residue, the O-[1-14C]octadecyl moiety in substrate (C) and (D) could be converted into the O-[1-14C]octadec-1-enyl moiety or cleaved, yielding labelled acyl groups. Following 5 h incubation with substrate (C), most of the incorporated radioactivity was associated with 1-O-[1'-14C]octadec-1'-enyl-2-acyl-glycerophosphoethanolamine, 1-O-[1'-14C]octadecyl-2,3-diacylglycerol and 1-O-[1'-14C]octadecyl-2-acyl-glycerophosphoinositol. After 15 h minor amounts of label appeared in diacyl glycerophosphocholine. Similar labelling patterns were obtained with the choline analogue (D), except that 1-O-[1'-14C]octadecyl-2-acyl-glycerophosphocholine was found additionally. Incubations of the four labelled ether lysophospholipids with cell homogenates showed the presence of a lysophospholipase D and a phosphohydrolase. There was no specificity towards different ether residues or phosphobase moieties. Formation of alkyl- and alkenylglycerol, respectively, was stimulated by Mg2+ ions and the phosphohydrolase was inhibited by NaF. The results support the conclusion that the specific pattern of ether phospholipids in L. donovani cells is due to a pronounced specificity of the biosynthetic enzymes. Enzymes of the catabolic reactions are of low specificity or absent, such as plasmalogenases.     

Protein methylation and protein methylases in Leishmania donovani and Leishmania tropica promastigotes

We studied the content of acid-stable methylated amino acids of soluble proteins in promastigotes of Leishmania donovani and L. tropica. epsilon-N-Trimethyllysine and NG,NG-dimethylarginine were found in both Leishmania species after culture in the presence of [methyl-14C]methionine. In addition, 3-N-methylhistidine was found only in L. tropica and epsilon-N-dimethyllysine only in proteins of L. donovani. As sinefungin, an antileishmanial nucleoside antibiotic, is a known transmethylase inhibitor, its effect on protein methylation was studied, in whole cells and in vitro. In the first case the drug had no effect on the content of methylated amino acid residues of soluble proteins. In vitro, histone methylation by crude extracts was studied at pH 7.2 and 9.0, known in other organisms as optimum pH values for arginine and lysine methylation, respectively. Surprisingly, arginine methylation by extracts of L. donovani was the same at both pH values while lysine residues were more efficiently methylated at pH 7.2 than at pH 9 by the extracts of the two species. These results indicate that the properties of protein methylases I and III of these parasites are different from those of other organisms hitherto studied. The inhibition constants of sinefungin for the leishmanial protein methylases were weak in comparison with those for enzymes from other sources, with the exception of the constant of L. donovani enzyme at pH 9.     

Purine metabolism in Leishmania donovani amastigotes and promastigotes

Purine metabolism in Leishmania donovani amastigotes was found to be similar to that of promastigotes with the exception of adenosine metabolism. Adenosine kinase activity in amastigotes is approximately 50-fold greater than in promastigotes. Amastigotes deaminate adenosine to inosine through adenosine deaminase, an enzyme not present in promastigotes. Inosine is cleaved to hypoxanthine and phosphoribosylated by hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Promastigotes cleave adenosine to adenine and deaminate adenine to hypoxanthine via adenase, an enzyme not present in amastigotes. Hypoxanthine is phosphoribosylated by hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase.     

A low-background inducible promoter system in Leishmania donovani

We report here a second-generation tetracycline-responsive repressor-operator system in Leishmania donovani. In this system, expression of a reporter luciferase gene (LUC) is driven by the inducible Leishmania ribosomal RNA promoter on the DNA strand opposite to a hygromycin resistance gene (HYG) whose expression is driven by the endogenous pol I promoter on chromosome 27 (rDNA locus) or the endogenous pol II promoter on chromosome 35 (LD1 locus). Transgenic cell lines showed regulation of LUC gene expression over three orders of magnitude. In the absence of tetracycline, luciferase expression levels were 2-3-fold higher than machine background when integrated into the LD1 locus, but was over 10-fold higher than machine background when integrated into the rDNA locus.     

Das Verhalten von Leishmania donovani in verschiedenen Nagetierarten

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Oxidant-mediated damage of Leishmania donovani promastigotes.

Dissemination of Leishmania within the host is related to parasites undergoing unchecked proliferation. We therefore studied the effects of oxidant generating systems on promastigote multiplication by (i) direct determinations of organism proliferation and (ii) the incorporation of [3H]uracil into promastigote nucleoprotein. These two parameters correlated closely as measures of organism replication as demonstrated by parallel suppression of them by the protein synthesis inhibitors puromycin and cycloheximide and the nucleic acid synthesis inhibitors actinomycin D and mitomycin C. Promastigotes showed dose-related susceptibility to reagent and generated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as reflected in quantitatively similar decreases in multiplication and [3H]uracil incorporation. These effects were specific for H2O2 as catalase abrogated the dimunition in multiplication. The generation of superoxide anion by acetaldehyde-xanthine oxidase (10 mU/ml) did not alter promastigote replication or nucleoprotein synthesis. These results indicate that Leishmania donovani promastigotes are damaged by H2O2 and that the incorporation of [3H]uracil into promastigote nucleoprotein may be useful for studying the interaction of this parasite with host effector cells.     

Observations on human bone-marrow for Leishmania donovani

During the recent epidemic in North Bihar, a total of 65 cases which were clinically designated as Kala-azar had been subjected to bone-marrow aspiration from the iliac crest, out of which the L.D. body was demonstrated in 55 cases (84.61 per cent). Culture analysis of bone-marrow on modified Tobie's medium, revealed that ten cases (15.39 per cent) which were negative for L.D. body did not show any leptomonads, whereas out of 55 L.D. body positive cases, the promastigote forms developed in 22 cases (40.00 per cent). The probable reasons for the negative findings and also the age and sex distribution in Kala-azar are discussed in brief.     

Stage-specific variations in lectin binding to Leishmania donovani.

Visceral leishmaniasis is caused by the dimorphic protozoan Leishmania donovani, which exists as an aflagellar amastigote within mammalian mononuclear phagocytes and as a flagellated extracellular promastigote in its sandfly vector. We have identified four plant lectins that bind to the L. donovani surface, and through these we have documented stage-specific differences in exposed surface carbohydrates. Concanavalin A bound to both promastigotes and amastigotes; binding was inhibited by mannose or alpha-methyl-mannoside, implying a mannose-containing residue on the surface of both parasite stages. Ricinus communis agglutinin, which binds to galactose-containing residues, also bound to both stages and was inhibited by lactose, implying a galactose-containing glycoconjugate on the parasite surface. Two other lectins, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and peanut agglutinin (PNA), exhibited stage specificity in their binding characteristics. Amastigotes bound WGA but not PNA. During the process of conversion from the amastigote to the promastigote stage, the WGA-binding glycoconjugate was lost, and a PNA-binding residue was newly displayed. WGA binding was inhibited by N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and was not altered by neuraminidase treatment, suggesting the presence of an exposed N-acetyl-D-glucosamine moiety on the amastigote surface. The PNA binding site is known to accommodate the oligosaccharide beta-D-galactose-(1----3)-N-acetyl-D-galactosamine; in our system, PNA may have identified an internal rather than a terminal galactose on the promastigote surface. Localized binding of WGA and PNA to the surface of intermediate phases of the parasite suggested inhomogeneous and changing surface characteristics during conversion from amastigote to promastigote stages. This evolution of L. donovani surface glycoconjugates may be important in the adaptation of the organism to its divergent mammalian host and arthropod vector environments.     

Testicular amyloidosis in hamsters experimentally infected with Leishmania donovani

Thirty hamsters were inoculated intraperitoneally with Leishmania donovani. Testes were examined grossly and histologically by light and electron microscopy. Progressive testicular atrophy developed. Spermatogenic cells of the seminiferous tubules showed vacuolar degeneration and decreased in number leading to a total azoospermia in the final weeks of the pathological process. Lymphoplasmocytic infiltrates with macrophages containing leishmanias appeared in the intertubular space. Amyloid deposits in the intertubular space and tubular basement membrane were identified by optical and ultrastructural methods. It has been suggested that testicular amyloidosis may have a pathogenic mechanism related to a dysfunction of plasma cells and stimulation of the reticuloendothial system, due to the antigenic character of the parasite.     

Characterization of RNA from Leishmania tropica and Leishmania d.donovani promastigotes

RNA has been prepared from promastigotes of Leishmania tropica and Leishmania d.donovani using three different methods. Extraction by hot phenol/isothiocyanate gave the best quantitative and qualitative results. The analysis of total RNA on methyl mercuric agarose gels shows that the large rRNA species is nicked: it is composed of a 630 and a 560 kDa molecule. The small rRNA species has a molecular weight of 800,000. Poly(A+) RNA can be translated in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system. The newly synthesized products comprise high molecular weight proteins and show different patterns using RNA from L. tropica or from L. d. donovani promastigotes.     

Generation of adenosine tri-phosphate in Leishmania donovani amastigote forms

Leishmania, the causative agent of various forms of leishmaniasis, is the significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Regarding energy metabolism, which is an essential factor for the survival, parasites adapt to the environment under low oxygen tension in the host using metabolic systems which are very different from that of the host mammals. We carried out the study of susceptibilities to different inhibitors of mitochondrial electron transport chain and studies on substrate level phosphorylation in wild-type L. donovani. The amastigote forms of L. donovani are independent on oxidative phosphorylation for ATP production. Indeed, its cell growth was not inhibited by excess oligomycin and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, which are the most specific inhibitors of the mitochondrial Fo/F1-ATP synthase. In contrast, mitochondrial complex I inhibitor rotenone and complex III inhibitor antimycin A inhibited amastigote cell growth, suggesting the role of complex I and complex III in cell survival. Complex II appeared to have no role in cell survival. To further investigate the site of ATP production, we studied the substrate level phosphorylation, which was involved in the synthesis of ATP. Succinate-pyruvate couple showed the highest substrate level phosphorylation in amastigotes whereas NADH-fumarate and NADH-pyruvate couples failed to produce ATP. In contrast, NADPH-fumarate showed the highest rate of ATP formation in promastigotes. Therefore, we can conclude that substrate level phosphorylation is essential for the survival of amastigote forms of Leishmania donovani.     

Interaction of Leishmania donovani Promastigotes with Human Phagocytes

Leishmania donovani is an important intracellular protozoal pathogen of humans, which resides solely within mononuclear phagocytes. Phase-contrast microscopy and cinemicroscopy were used to examine the interaction of L. donovani promastigotes with human phagocytes to characterize and quantitate the sequence of events that results in leishmanial infection.     

IL-10 mediates susceptibility to Leishmania donovani infection

Human visceral leishmaniasis (VL) results in a severe and potentially fatal systemic disease, accompanied by cellular immune depression. The production of IL-10 correlates with ongoing disease and it has been suggested that the cellular immune depression that accompanies active disease may be due to a predominance of IL-10 production rather than a lack of IFN-gamma production, which is essential for optimal macrophage activation and parasite elimination. To examine the role of IL-10 in resistance during L. donovani infection (a causative agent of VL), the course of infection was examined in mice lacking the gene for IL-10. BALB/c IL-10-/-, as well as C57BL/6 IL-10-/- mice, were highly resistant to L. donovani infection, as evidenced by liver parasite burdens which were tenfold lower than those in control mice after 14 days of infection. Enhanced resistance was accompanied by increased production of IFN-gamma and nitric oxide in BALB/c IL-10-/- mice. Susceptibility to infection in BALB/c IL-10-/- mice was enhanced following in vivo treatment with a neutralizing antibody to IFN-gamma or IL-12. Together these studies demonstrate for the first time that IL-10 is a critical component of the immune response that inhibits resistance to L. donovani.