Ca2+ content and expression of an acidocalcisomal calcium pump are elevated in intracellular forms of Trypanosoma cruzi.

ABSTRACT: The survival of a eukaryotic protozoan as an obligate parasite in the interior of a eukaryotic host cell implies its adaptation to an environment with a very different ionic composition from that of its extracellular habitat. This is particularly important in the case of Ca2+, the intracellular concentration of which is 3 orders of magnitude lower than the extracellular value. Ca2+ entry across the plasma membrane is a widely recognized mechanism for Ca2+ signaling, needed for a number of intracellular processes, and obviously, it would be restricted in the case of intracellular parasites. Here we show that Trypanosoma cruzi amastigotes possess a higher Ca2+ content than the extracellular stages of the parasite. This correlates with the higher expression of a calcium pump, the gene for whi

SUBMITTER: Lu HG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC121484 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature