Trypanosoma brucei gambiense adaptation to different mammalian sera is associated with VSG expression site plasticity.

ABSTRACT: Trypanosoma brucei gambiense infection is widely considered an anthroponosis, although it has also been found in wild and domestic animals. Thus, fauna could act as reservoir, constraining the elimination of the parasite in hypo-endemic foci. To better understand the possible maintenance of T. b. gambiense in local fauna and investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptation, we generated adapted cells lines (ACLs) by in vitro culture of the parasites in different mammalian sera. Using specific antibodies against the Variant Surface Glycoproteins (VSGs) we found that serum ACLs exhibited different VSG variants when maintained in pig, goat or human sera. Although newly detected VSGs were independent of the sera used, the consistent appearance of different VSGs suggested remodelling

SUBMITTER: Cordon-Obras C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3871602 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature