TY - EJOU
AU - CUETO, Juan AgustÃn
AU - BARRIAS, Emile SANTOS
AU - SOUZA, Wanderley de
AU - ROMANO, Patricia Silvia
TI - Trypanosoma cruzi invasion in non-phagocytic cells: an ultrastructural study
T2 - BIOCELL
PY - 2018
VL - 42
IS - 3
SN - 1667-5746
AB - Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas disease. This parasite requires the intracellular niche
in order to proliferate and disseminate the infection. After invasion, T. cruzi resides temporarily in an acidic vacuole
which is lysed by a not well-understood mechanism. Transmission electron microscopy was used to describe the
process of T. cruzi escape from the parasitophorous vacuole over the time. Using HeLa (non-professional phagocytic
cells) as host cell, we observed that recently internalized parasites reside in a membrane-bounded vacuole. A few hours
later, the first sign of vacuole disruption appeared as membrane discontinuities. This observation was followed by a
progressive vacuole swelling as evidenced by an electron-lucent halo between the parasite and the vacuole membrane.
Apparently, the vacuole membrane remnants reorganized as small vesicles that eventually disappeared from the vicinity
of the parasites. Finally, parasites reach the host cell cytosol where replication takes place. The thorough ultrastructural
description of this process set the base for a comprehensive understanding of the parasite-host cell interaction and, thus
open the possibility of new therapeutic intervention strategies.
KW - Parasitophorous vacuole
KW - Pathogen
KW - Parasites
KW - Chagas disease
KW - Infectious diseases
DO - 10.32604/biocell.2018.07017