Dados do Trabalho

Título

Study of phospholipases A2 in Rhodnius prolixus midgut during Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Introdução

Rhodnius prolixus is a hematophagous insect known to be a vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, etiologic agent of Chagas’s disease. Fighting against the vector is one way to prevent this disease and, because of that, finding molecules that are crucial for the infection is necessary. In this scenario, previous studies from our group demonstrated the involvement of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), in different aspects of the infection.

Objetivo (s)

Thus, the aim of this work is to study a superfamily of enzymes that can promote the release of this lysophospholipid, phospholipases A2 (PLA2). These enzymes can catalyze the hydrolysis of glycerophospholipids in the sn-2 position, releasing fatty acids and lysophospholipids. In the present study, we investigated whether the infection by T. cruzi modulates the gene expression of secreted PLA2 (sPLA2) in the anterior (AM) and posterior (PM) midgut of R. prolixus.

Material e Métodos

Adult females were fed with rabbit blood containing 10^7 parasites/ mL and 3, 10, 15 and 21 days after feeding insects were dissected. AM and PM were collected and submitted to total RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis and real time PCR for the analysis of four sPLA2 (RpPLA2 4037, RpPLA2 9995, RpPLA2 8617 and RpPLA2 8619) gene expression.

Resultados e Conclusão

It was observed that, in the AM, the expression of RpPLA2 9995 significantly increased 3,10,15 and 21 days after feeding and RpPLA2 8617 gene expression significantly increased 3,10 and 15 days after feeding. Meanwhile, in the PM, a significant increase in the expression of RpPLA2 4037, 3 and 10 days after infection and a decrease 15 days after were observed. Furthermore, the expression of RpPLA2 8619 increased 10 and 15 days after infection. These results demonstrate that T. cruzi can modulate the gene expression of sPLA2 in the midgut of the vector and more studies are necessary to evaluate the importance of some of those genes for the parasite proliferation and differentiation.

Palavras-chave

Rhodnius prolixus, Trypanosoma cruzi, phospholipase A2, midgut

Agradecimentos

CAPES, CNPq, FAPERJ