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Heterogeneity in extracellular nucleotide hydrolysis among clinical isolates of Trichomonas vaginalis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2005

T. TASCA
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, MC7758, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2600 – Anexo, 90035-003 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Laboratório de Parasitologia Clínica, Departamento de Análises Clinicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Ipiranga, 6681, Caixa Postal 1429, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
C. D. BONAN
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Pesquisa Bioquímica, Departamento de Ciências Fisiológicas, Faculdade de Biociências, Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Ipiranga, 6681, Caixa Postal 1429, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
G. A. DE CARLI
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Parasitologia Clínica, Departamento de Análises Clinicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Ipiranga, 6681, Caixa Postal 1429, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
J. J. F. SARKIS
Affiliation:
Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2600 – Anexo, 90035-003 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
J. F. ALDERETE
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, MC7758, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA
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Abstract

Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasitic protozoan that causes trichomonosis, a sexually-transmitted disease, with serious sequelae to women and men. As the host–parasite relationship is complex, it is important to investigate biochemical aspects of the parasite that contribute to our understanding of trichomonal biology and pathogenesis. Nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1 (NTPDase 1), which hydrolyses extracellular ATP and ADP, and ecto-5′-nucleotidase, which hyrolyses AMP, have been characterized in laboratory isolates of T. vaginalis. Here we show that the extracellular ATP[ratio ]ADP hydrolysis ratio varies among fresh clinical isolates, which presented higher ATPase and ADPase activities than long-term-grown isolates. Growth of parasites in iron-replete and iron-depleted medium resulted in different, albeit minor, patterns in extracellular ATP and ADP hydrolysis among isolates. Importantly, some isolates had low or absent ecto-5′-nucleotidase activity, regardless of environmental conditions tested. For isolates with ecto-5′-nucleotidase activity, high- and low-iron trichomonads had increased and decreased levels of activity, respectively, compared to organisms grown in normal TYM-serum medium. This suggests a regulation in expression of either the enzyme amounts and/or activity under the control of iron. Finally, we found no correlation between the presence or absence of dsRNA virus infection among trichomonad isolates and NTPDase and ecto-5′-nucleotidase activities.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Fig. 1. NTPDase activity among fresh Trichomonas vaginalis isolates (nos. 1–5 (A) and 7–10 (B) and a representative long-term-grown (no. 6) isolate. Isolate 347 V+ (no. 6a) and 347 V− (no. 6b) refer to presence or absence of dsRNA virus, respectively, as described in the Materials and Methods section. The enzyme activities are those using ATP (clear bars) and ADP (hatched bars) as substrates. Isolates (B) were separated from (A) because of the ATP[ratio ]ADP hydrolysis ratio of ~2[ratio ]1, that is distinct from that of NTPDase1 (isolates nos. 1–5). Data are expressed as the mean±S.D. for at least 3 experiments.

Figure 1

Fig. 2. The extent of variation in the ecto-5′-nucleotidase activity among fresh Trichomonas vaginalis isolates and the long-term-grown 347 isolate. Data are expressed as the mean±S.D. for at least 3 experiments.

Figure 2

Fig. 3. Representative experiments on the effect of growth of trichomonads in low- (centre, hatched bars) versus high-iron (solid black bars) medium on NTPDase activity among 2 virus-minus (T016 and UT99-1) and 2 virus-harbouring (UT99-6 and T068-II) fresh Trichomonas vaginalis isolates. Different iron conditions were compared with normal TYM-serum medium. Bars represent the mean±S.D. for at least 3 experiments. Results were analysed statistically by the Student's t-test (P<0·05). Statistically significant enzyme activity differences when compared to control are indicated by an asterisk.

Figure 3

Fig. 4. Effect of growth of trichomonads in low- (centre, hatched bars) versus high-iron (solid black bars) medium on ecto-5′-nucleotidase activity among representative fresh Trichomonas vaginalis isolates and the long-term-grown 347 isolate. Different iron conditions were compared with normal TYM-serum medium. Bars represent the mean±S.D. for at least 3 experiments. Results were analysed statistically by Student's t-test (P<0·05). Statistically significant enzyme activity differences when compared to control are indicated by an asterisk.