IHEM   20887
INSTITUTO DE HISTOLOGIA Y EMBRIOLOGIA DE MENDOZA DR. MARIO H. BURGOS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Host cell-Trypanosoma cruzi interaction: Novel aspects focused on membrane biophysics and microRNAs
Autor/es:
ROMANO, PATRICIA SILVIA; CUETO, JUAN AGUSTÍN
Lugar:
Mendoza
Reunión:
Seminario; Seminario Feria Internacional de Educacion Superior.; 2018
Institución organizadora:
Universidad Nacional de Cuyo
Resumen:
Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative parasite of Chagas disease. This life-threatening illness was confined to Latin America but demographic factors have determined its occurrence in non-endemic regions. As an obligate intracellular parasite, T. cruzi resides transiently in a host-cell membrane-bounded vacuole, known as parasitophorous vacuole (PV). To entirely surround a particle as large as a trypanosome (10-15 µm long), different organelles contribute with membrane. Our previous research project has contributed significantly to the notion that the major membrane donor organelles to the PV formation are lysosomes, recycling/early endosomes and plasma membrane. During the course of these studies, we started being interested in two intriguing aspects that nowadays drive our research: the influence of host cell membrane tension in the invasion process and the host regulatory mechanisms that drive gene expression changes during infection. Plasma membrane tension, influence cell processes ranging from vesicle trafficking to signal transduction pathways. Interestingly, we have observed that recently internalized parasites are highly motile and can protrude from the cell early after the invasion, stretching the plasma membrane out from the inside. This suggests that host cell plasma membrane could be subjected to strong mechanical forces. Simultaneously, T. cruzi invasion specifically modulates host cell gene expression to subvert the metabolic machinery for its own benefit. Now, we have evidence that this could be conducted by a post-transcriptional gene regulatory mechanism mediated by microRNAs. Through these novel approaches, we hope to reveal unknown aspects of the biology of T. cruzi and the host cell interaction and find new non-serological biomarkers for Chagas disease diagnosis.