FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF T. CRUZI MUCINS IN THE INFECTION OF RHODNIUS PROLIXUS

CAMARA MARIA DE LOS MILAGROS; PASSOS DE MATOS DEBORA; CAMILA CENTENO; CARLOS BUSCAGLIA

Águas de Lindóia

Congreso; Reunião Anual da Sociedade Brasileira de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular,; 2017

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Introduction: The protozoan T. cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease, a major public health issue in Latin America. Due to its predominant clonal proliferation, this species is composed by multiple ?discrete typing units? displaying considerable genetic diversity. TcSMUG is an homogeneous multiple member family of Thr-rich mucins genes composed of two groups of genes, named L and S, organized in independent tandem arrays and differing in their structure of their genomic loci. Both groups are co-expressed in the epimastigotes stage, and share structural homologies, but present different functions, post-transcriptional modifications and expression patterns in different T. cruzi strains. The objective of this work was the functional characterization of T. cruzi mucins and their role in the infection of Rhodnius prolixus Using a transgenic approach we generated T. cruzi strains overexpressing TcSMUGS and TcSMUGL in two different genetic backgrounds, CL Brener and Y strain. Being the later unable to stablish the infection in Rhodnius prolixus and presents low expression levels of TcSMUGL. Transgenic lines were used for in vivo infection assays and in vitro adhesion assays in Rhodnius prolixus Results: Our results indicate that TcSMUGL and TcSMUGS have a role in the infection of the insect host. Both transgenic lines in both genetic backgrounds presented higher infection rates than wild type strains. Furthermore our in vitro adhesion experiments indicate that TcSMUGL would be involved in the parasites adhesion to the intestinal epitelium while TcSMUGS would be involved in the rectum adhesion. Finally the overexpression of both mucins enhances parasites survival towards stomach and intestinal contents. Conclusion: Our results show that mucin overexpression have a protective role and enhances parasite differentiation to metacyclic trypomastigotes and colonization of the invertebrate host.