3 research outputs found
An intermittent schedule is better than continuous regimen of antimonial therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Kinetoplastid membrane protein-11 is present in promastigotes and amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis and its surface expression increases during metacyclogenesis
Kinetoplastid membrane protein-11 (KMP-11), a protein present in all
kinetoplastid protozoa, is considered a potential candidate for a
leishmaniasis vaccine. A suitable leishmaniasis vaccine candidate
molecule must be expressed in amastigotes, the infective stage for
mammals. However, the expression of KMP-11 in Leishmania amastigotes
has been a subject of controversy. We evaluated the expression of this
molecule in logarithmic and stationary growth phase promastigotes, as
well as in amastigotes, of Leishmania amazonensis by immunoblotting,
flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry, using a monoclonal antibody
against KMP-11. We found that KMP-11 is present in promastigotes and
amastigotes. In both stages, the protein was found in association with
membrane structures (at the cell surface, flagellar pocket and
intracellular vesicles). More importantly, its surface expression is
higher in amastigotes than in promastigotes and increases during
metacyclogenesis. The increased expression of KMP-11 in metacyclic
promastigotes, and especially in amastigotes, indicates a role for this
molecule in the parasite relationship with the mammalian host. The
presence of this molecule in amastigotes is consistent with the
previously demonstrated immunoprotective capacity of vaccine prototypes
based on the KMP-11-coding gene and the presence of humoral and
cellular immune responses to KMP-11 in Leishmania-infected humans and
animals