Essential Role of Enzymatic Activity in the Leishmanicidal Mechanism of the Eosinophil Cationic Protein (RNase 3).

ABSTRACT: The recruitment of eosinophils into Leishmania lesions is frequently associated with a favorable evolution. A feasible effector for this process is eosinophil cationic protein (ECP, RNase 3), one of the main human eosinophil granule proteins, endowed with a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity, including parasites. ECP was active on Leishmania promastigotes and axenic amastigotes (LC₅₀'s = 3 and 16 μM, respectively) but, in contrast to the irreversible membrane damage caused on bacteria and reproduced by its N-terminal peptides, it only induced a mild and transient plasma membrane destabilization on Leishmania donovani promastigotes. To assess the contribution of RNase activity to the overall leishmanicidal activity of ECP, parasites were challeng

SUBMITTER: Abengozar MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9274760 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature