Membrane proteome of L. amazonensis PH8 and LV79 strains

Leishmaniasis is a serious disease caused by several species of protozoa from Leishmania genus. Parasite molecules that contribute to survival in the insect and vertebrate host are named virulence factors. We have recently shown that L. amazonensis PH8 and LV79 strains have different infectivity in mice and that lesion-derived amastigotes from these two strains differ in terms of proteome. In this project, we compared promastigotes of these two strains in terms of infectivity in vitro. Microsomal membrane fractions of PH8 and LV79 promastigotes were compared using a label-free proteomic approach in search of proteins that could be involved in the higher infectivity of PH8. Among the proteins upregulated in LV79 promastigotes, most of them participate in translation, amino acid metabolism and nucleotide metabolism. On the other hand, the majority of the proteins upregulated in PH8 are involved in carbohydrate metabolism, cytoskeleton composition and vesicle and membrane trafficking.

利什曼病（Leishmaniasis）是由利什曼属（Leishmania genus）的多种原生动物引发的严重传染病。可帮助寄生虫在昆虫与脊椎动物宿主体内存活的寄生虫分子，被称为毒力因子（virulence factors）。本团队近期研究发现，亚马逊利什曼原虫（L. amazonensis）的PH8与LV79毒株对小鼠的感染能力存在差异，且两毒株的病灶来源无鞭毛体（amastigotes）的蛋白质组（proteome）有所不同。本项目针对这两毒株的前鞭毛体（promastigotes）开展体外感染能力比较分析，并采用无标记蛋白质组学方法（label-free proteomic approach），对比PH8与LV79前鞭毛体的微粒体膜组分（microsomal membrane fractions），以期筛选出与PH8更高感染潜力相关的蛋白质。在LV79前鞭毛体中上调的蛋白质中，多数参与翻译过程、氨基酸代谢与核苷酸代谢；与之相对，PH8中上调的绝大多数蛋白质则参与碳水化合物代谢、细胞骨架组成以及囊泡与膜运输（vesicle and membrane trafficking）。