Hypoxia modulates expression of the 70-kD heat shock protein and reduces Leishmania infection in macrophages

Hypoxia, a microenvironmental factor present in diseased tissues, has been recognized as a specific metabolic stimulus or a signal of cellular response. Experimental hypoxia has been reported to induce adaptation in macrophages such as differential migration, elevation of proinflammatory cytokines and glycolytic enzyme activities, and decreased phagocytosis of inert particles. In this study we demonstrate that although exposure to hypoxia (5% O-2, 5% CO2, and balanced N-2) did not change macrophage viability, or 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) cleavage and proliferation, it significantly reduced expression of the 70-kD heat shock protein (HSP70), which was restored to prehypoxia levels after reoxygenation. The influence of low oxygen tension on macrophage functional activity was also studied, i.e. the ability of these cells to maintain or resist infection by a microorganism. We demonstrate that macrophages from two different sources (a murine cell line and primary cells) exposed to hypoxia were efficiently infected with Leishmania amazonensis, but after 24 h showed a reduction in the percentage of infected cells and of the number of intracellular parasites per macrophage, indicating that hypoxia induced macrophages to kill the intracellular parasites. These results support the notion that hypoxia, a microenvironmental factor, can modulate macrophage protein expression and functional activity. Copyright (C) 2004 National Science Council, ROC and S. Karger AG, Basel.11684785

Use of In Vivo and In Vitro Systems to Select Leishmania amazonensis Expressing Green Fluorescent Protein

Various Leishmania species were engineered with green fluorescent protein (GFP) using episomal vectors that encoded an antibiotic resistance gene, such as aminoglycoside geneticin sulphate (G418). Most reports of GFP-Leishmania have used the flagellated extracellular promastigote, the stage of parasite detected in the midgut of the sandfly vector; fewer studies have been performed with amastigotes, the stage of parasite detected in mammals. In this study, comparisons were made regarding the efficiency for in vitro G418 selection of GFP-Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes and amastigotes and the use of in vivo G418 selection. The GFP-promastigotes retained episomal plasmid for a prolonged period and G418 treatment was necessary and efficient for in vitro selection. In contrast, GFP-amastigotes showed low retention of the episomal plasmid in the absence of G418 selection and low sensitivity to antibiotics in vitro. The use of protocols for G418 selection using infected BALB/c mice also indicated low sensitivity to antibiotics against amastigotes in cutaneous lesions

Biosensors for efficient diagnosis of Leishmaniasis: innovations in bioanalytics for a neglected disease

The need for reliable, fast diagnostics is closely linked to the need for safe, effective treatment of the so-called “neglected” diseases. The list of diseases with no field-adapted diagnostic tools includes leishmaniasis, shigella, typhoid, and bacterial meningitis. Leishmaniasis, in particular, is a parasitic disease caused by Leishmania spp. transmitted by infected phlebotomine sandfly, which remains a public health concern in developing countries with ca. 12 million people infected and 350 million at risk of infection. Despite several attempts, methods for diagnosis are still noneffective, especially with regard to specificity due to false positives with Chagas’ disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. Accepted golden standards for detecting leishmaniasis involve isolation of parasites either microscopically, or by culture, and in both methods specimens are obtained by invasive means. Here, we show that efficient distinction between cutaneous leishmaniasis and Chagas’ disease can be obtained with a low-cost biosensor system made with nanostructured films containing specific Leishmania amazonensis and T. cruzi antigens and employing impedance spectroscopy as the detection method. This unprecedented selectivity was afforded by antigen−antibody molecular recognition processes inherent in the detection with the immobilized antigens, and by statistically correlating the electrical impedance data, which allowed distinction between real samples that tested positive for Chagas’ disease and leishmaniasis. Distinction could be made of blood serum samples containing 10−5 mg/mL of the antibody solution in a few minutes. The methods used here are generic and can be extended to any type of biosensor, which is important for an effective diagnosis of many other diseases.FAPESPCNPqCAPE

HYPOXIC STRESS, HEPATOCYTES AND CACO-2 VIABILITY AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO Shigella flexneri INVASION

SUMMARY Inflammation due to Shigella flexneri can cause damage to the colonic mucosa and cell death by necrosis and apoptosis. This bacteria can reach the bloodstream in this way, and the liver through portal veins. Hypoxia is a condition present in many human diseases, and it may induce bacterial translocation from intestinal lumen. We studied the ability of S. flexneri to invade rat hepatocytes and Caco-2 cells both in normoxic and hypoxic microenvironments, as well as morphological and physiological alterations in these cells after infection under hypoxia. We used the primary culture of rat hepatocytes as a model of study. We analyzed the following parameters in normoxic and hypoxic conditions: morphology, cell viability, bacterial recovery and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released. The results showed that there were fewer bacteria within the Caco-2 cells than in hepatocytes in normoxic and hypoxic conditions. We observed that the higher the multiplicity of infection (MOI) the greater the bacterial recovery in hepatocytes. The hypoxic condition decreased the bacterial recovery in hepatocytes. The cytotoxicity evaluated by LDH released by cells was significantly higher in cells submitted to hypoxia than normoxia. Caco-2 cells in normoxia released 63% more LDH than hepatocytes. LDH increased 164% when hepatocytes were submitted to hypoxia and just 21% when Caco-2 cells were in the same condition. The apoptosis evaluated by Tunel was significantly higher in cells submitted to hypoxia than normoxia. When comparing hypoxic cells, we obtained more apoptotic hepatocytes than apoptotic Caco-2 cells. Concluding our results contribute to a better knowledge of interactions between studied cells and Shigella flexneri. These data may be useful in the future to define strategies to combat this virulent pathogen

Avaliação dos efeitos de baixa e alta tensão de oxigenio em modelo in vitro da leishmaniose

Orientador: Selma GiorgioDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de BiologiaResumo: o fluxo sangüíneo alterado, isquemia, proliferação celular e a presença de microrganismos resultam em queda acentuada de pressão parcial de oxigênio (hipóxia) no tecido lesado. Macrófagos se adaptam a hipóxia, alterando seu metabolismo, produção de linfocinas pro-inflamatórias e atividade fagocítica. No presente trabalho comparamos os efeitos da hipóxia (5% de O2) e da normóxia (21 % de 02) na infecção de macrófagos com o protozoário parasita Leishmania amazonensis. Macrófagos de duas diferentes origens (linhagem celular murina 774 e macrófagos peritoneais murinos) expostos a hipóxia mostraram redução na porcentagem de células infectadas e no número de parasitas intracelulares por célula. A cinética da infecção indicou que a hipóxia não deprime a fagocitose de L. amazonensis, mas induz macrófagos a reduzirem o parasitismo intracelular. Além disso, a. hipóxia não age sinergicamente com interferon gama (lFN-y) elipopolissacarídeo (LPS) em macrófagos para induzir morte do parasita. Experimentos também demonstram ausência de correlação entre a produção de óxido nítrico e o controle da infecção em macrófagos sob condições hipóxicas. Proteínas do choque térmico de 70kDa (HSP70) é induzida por hipóxia em muitos tipos de células e contribui para sua sobrevivência durante exposição a condições hipóxicas. Análises da expressão de HSP70 em linhagem celular murina J774, expostas à hipóxia, mostram uma notável redução na expressão de HSP70. Macrófagos infectados com L. amazonensis também reduziram a expressão de HSP70. Macrófagos infectados com amastigotas de L. amazonensis sob condições hiperbáricas (HBO) (2 horas, 2,5 ATA, 100% 02) apresentaram significativa redução na porcentagem de células infectadas e no número de parasitas intracelulares por células. Todos os resultados fornecem evidências de que a hipóxia, que ocorre em várias condições patológicas, e a HBO, podem alterar a susceptibilidade de macrófagos a infecção com LeishmaniaAbstract: The altered blood flow, isquemia, cell proliferation and the presence of microorganisms cause hypoxia (low pO2) in injured tissues. Macrophages adapt to hypoxia and alter their metabolism, pro-inflammatory Iymphokines production and phagocytosis activity. In the present study we compared the effect of 5% oxygen tension (hypoxia) and a normal tension of 21 % oxygen (normoxia) on macrophage infection by the protozoan parasite Leishmania amazonensis. Macrophages from two different sources (murine cell line J774 and murine peritoneal macrophages) exposed to hypoxia showed a reduction of the percentage of infected cells and of the number of intracellular parasites per cell. The kinetic of infection indicated that hypoxia did not depress L. amazonensis phagocytosis but induced macrophages to reduce intracellular parasitism. Furthermore, hypoxia did not act synergistically with gamma interferon (IFN-y) and bacterial lipopolisaccharides (LPS) in macrophages to induce parasite killing. Experiments also indicated no correlation between nitric oxide production and control of infection in macrophages under hypoxic condition. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is induced by hypoxia in the most of mammalian cell types and contributes to their ability to survive during hypoxic episodes. Analyses of the Hsp70 in murine cell line J774 exposed to hypoxia indicated a notable reduction in HSP70 expression. Macrophages infected with L. amazonensis also showed a reduction in HSP70expression. Macrophages infected with L. amazonensis amastigotes under hyperbaric condition (HBO) (2 hours, 2,5 ATA, 100% 02) showed a significant decrease of the percentage of infected cells and number of intracellular parasites per cell. Taken together our results provided the first evidence that hypoxia, which occurs in various pathological conditions, and HBO treatment, can alter macrophage susceptibility to a parasite infectionMestradoMestre em Parasitologi

Effect Of Hypoxia On Macrophage Infection By Leishmania Amazonensis.

In the present study, we compared the effect of 5% oxygen tension (hypoxia) with a normal tension of 21% oxygen (normoxia) on macrophage infection by the protozoan parasite Leishmania amazonensis. Macrophages from different sources (human cell line U937, murine cell line J774, and murine peritoneal macrophages) exposed to hypoxia showed a reduction of the percentage of infected cells and the number of intracellular parasites per cell. Observations on the kinetics of infection indicated that hypoxia did not depress L. amazonensis phagocytosis but induced macrophages to reduce intracellular parasitism. Furthermore, hypoxia did not act synergistically with gamma-interferon and bacterial lipopolysaccharides in macrophages to induce killing of parasites. Experiments also indicated no correlation between nitric oxide production and control of infection in macrophages under hypoxic condition. Thus, we have provided the first evidence that hypoxia, which occurs in various pathological conditions, can alter macrophage susceptibility to a parasitic infection.90510-

The Influence of Low Oxygen on Macrophage Response to Leishmania Infection

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Hypoxia (low oxygen tension) is a common feature of inflamed and infected tissues. The influence of hypoxia on macrophage responses to micro-organisms has only recently been studied. This study demonstrates that hypoxia induced macrophages to control Leishmania amazonensis, an intracellular parasite that causes cutaneous and cutaneous metastatic lesions. The mechanisms that contribute to the control of macrophages against L. amazonensis infection under a hypoxic microenvironment are not known. Nitric oxide, TNF-alpha, IL-10 or IL-12 is not responsible for the decrease in parasitism under hypoxia. Live L. amazonensis entry or exocytosis of internalized particles as well as energetic metabolism was not impaired in infected macrophages; no apoptosis-like death was detected in intracellular parasites. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is likely to be involved, because treatment with antioxidants N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and ebselen inhibits the leishmanicidal effect of macrophages under hypoxia. Leishmania amazonensis infection induces macrophages to express hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1 alpha) and -2 (HIF-2 alpha). Data indicate that hypoxia affects the microbial activities and protein expression of macrophages leading to a different phenotype from that of the normoxic counterpart and that it plays a role in modulating Leishmania infection.742165175Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Lipid microspheres loaded with antigenic membrane proteins of the Leishmania amazonensis as a potential biotechnology application

Lipid microspheres (LM) are excellent drug delivery or vaccines adjuvant systems and are relatively stable. The aim of this work is to develop and characterize a system that is able to encapsulate and present antigenic membrane proteins from Leishmania amazonensis. Membrane proteins are important for vaccine`s formulation because these proteins come in contact with the host cell first, triggering the cell mediated immune response. This is a useful tool to avoid or inactivate the parasite invasion. The LM are constituted by soybean oil (SO), dipalmitoylphosphatidilcholine (DPPC), cholesterol and solubilized protein extract (SPE). The particles formed presented an average diameter of 200 run, low polydispersion and good stability for a period of 30 days, according to dynamic light scattering assays. Isopycnic density gradient centrifugation of LM-protein showed that proteins and lipids floated in the sucrose gradient (5-50%w/v) suggesting that the LM-protein preparation was homogeneous and that the proteins are interacting with the system. The results show that 85% of SPE proteins were encapsulated in the LM. Studies of cellular viability of murine peritoneal macrophages show that our system does not present cytotoxic effect for the macrophages and still stimulates their NO production (which makes its application as a vaccine adjuvant possible). LM-protein loaded with antigenic membrane proteins from L. amazonensis seems to be a promising vaccine system for immunization against leishmaniasis. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.FAPESPCNP