Purification of Tissue Forms (Amastigotes) of Trypanosoma cruzi by Immunoaffinity Chromatography1

A rapid and simple method for the purification of amastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi from spleens of infected mice is described. A protein A-Scpharose 4B immunoadsorbent column bound with antisera to epimastigotes of T. cruzi was used to purify the tissue forms of this parasite. Host cells and debris are not retained, and parasites can be eluted in high yields and purity. Studies of surface glycoproteins and glycolipids of the purified amastigotes with 18 lectins of various specificities revealed the presence on the parasites of receptors for N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine, D-galactose, and D-mannose binding lectins.     

Extracellular Killing of Trypanosoma cruzi Amastigotes by Human Eosinophils1

Granules released from human eosinophils upon interaction with Trypanosoma cruzi amastigotes in vitro were seen attached to the surface of non-internalized parasites by electron microscopy. Amastigote damage was preceded by the binding of eosinophil granule material to its membrane, and eosinophil granule major basic protein (MBP) bound to the parasite surface was readily detectable. Additional evidence of eosinophil cytotoxicity for extracellular amastigotes was the observation that amastigotes trapped between two eosinophils, without being ingested by either one, were destroyed at the interface. Amastigotes isolated from the spleens of infected mice or grown in culture were similarly sensitive to the lytic effects of purified MBP. These results demonstrate the ability of human eosinophils to lyse T. cruzi amastigotes extracellularly in the absence of antibody and suggest that MBP may be involved in the effect. Thus, eosinophils, known to be capable of destroying phagocytosed amastigotes, could also contribute to the clearance of these parasites through extracellular killing.     

Purification of metacyclic forms of Trypanosoma cruzi by Percoll discontinuous gradient centrifugation

A method for the purification of metacyclic forms of Trypanosoma cruzi has been developed. Metacyclic forms obtained in modified Grace medium were separated from the epimastigote forms by Percoll discontinuous density gradient centrifugation. Four different osmotic pressures were applied: 160 +/- 10, 260 +/- 10, 310 +/- 10 and 510 +/- 10 mosmol/kg H2O. At 160 mosmol/kg H2O, 100% of the metacyclic forms with a 21.3% yield were found in the interphase 1.120/1.125 g/ml, while 92.7% of the metacyclic forms with a 73.7% yield were found in the interphase 1.115/1.120 g/ml. At 310 mosmol/kg H2O, 100% of the metacyclic forms in the interphase 1.135/1.140 g/ml with a 36.8% yield were obtained. Metacyclic forms purified in this way do not show alterations in their capacity to infect cultures of HeLa cells.     

Effect of Gossypol on Trypomastigotes and Amastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi

Bloodstream Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes isolated from infected mice undergo reduction of motility and structural damages after 5 to 45 min exposure to gossypol at concentrations ranging from 5 to 50 μM. When 1% serum albumin is added to the incubation medium, no alterations of parasites are observed, even with 100 μM gossypol. Intracellular T. cruzi amastigotes in infected Vero cell cultures exposed to 5 μM gossypol for 2 h do not show changes. Incubation with 5 μM gossypol for 48 h produces complete disruption of host cells; however, the amastigotes they contain show only mineor alterations. The observations indicate that, in protein-rich media, gossypol is complexed into associations which have no activity on the different forms of the T. cruzi biological cycle.     

Growth of Isolated Amastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi in Cell-Free Medium1

Amastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi were purified from overlays of infected Vero cell cultures by centrifugation over a discontinuous gradient of metrizamide. Pure amastigote preparations were usually recovered from the pellet under the layer of specific gravity 1.086. The isolated amastigotes grew in cell-free ML-15HA medium. Growth rate for the different strains of T. cruzi were in the order Y > Tulahuan > CL. The generation time of amastigotes in ML-15HA medium was 16.8, 18.0, and 26.4 h for the Y, Tulahuen, and CL strains, respectively, in the presence of 5% CO₂) and 16.8, 31.2, and 36.4 h, respectively, in the absence of CO₂. Intracellular amastigotes did not differ ultrastructurally from amastigotes from either the density-gradient fractionation or culture in cell-free medium.     

Release of Membrane-Bound Trails by Trypanosoma cruzi Amastigotes onto Modified Surfaces and Mammalian Cells

ABSTRACT. Upon incubation at 37° C onto glass coverslips coated with Concanavalin A, poly-L-lysine, or a monoclonal antibody (1D9) directed to the parasite major surface glycoprotein Ssp-4, extracellular Trypanosoma cruzi amastigotes release trails of material barely visible by light microscopy. This release is not associated with parasite movements. Immunolabeling studies confirmed that the material is derived from the parasite's membrane since thin section through samples labeled with 1D9 revealed that the trails are membrane-bound structures. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the ∼0.1-μm thick trails of material emerging from the amastigotes can be uniform or beaded, indicating a tendency to vesiculation. The trails are preferentially released from the flagellar pocket region and/or at the opposite posterior end of the parasite body, and seem to be devoid of microtubules. The release is time and temperature-dependent and fixed parasites do not form trails. All attempts to inhibit trail release using drugs (antimycin A, sodium azide, cytochalasin D, nocodazole, genistein, staurosporine, EGTA) failed. The observation of trails associated with intracellular parasites and amastigotes invading Vero cells suggests that this is probably a physiological process.     

Purification of human erythrocyte transglutaminase by immunoaffinity chromatography

Human erythrocyte transglutaminase was purified using a reusable immunoaffinity column prepared from a monoclonal antibody described previously (Birckbichler et al., Hybridoma, 4, 179-186, 1985). The purified TGase was catalytically active and exhibited a single band of apparent Mr = 85,000 on SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. The amino acid composition of the enzyme was determined. The amino terminus was blocked, and the carboxy-terminal residue appeared to be isoleucine.     

Purification of nucleotide-requiring enzymes by immunoaffinity chromatography.

Monospecific (affinity-purified) anti-(yeast glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) IgG inhibits three different NADPH-requiring enzymes, chicken liver dihydrofolate reductase, pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase and chicken liver malic enzyme. The inhibition of all three enzymes was approx. 50% in a 2h incubation with 100 micrograms of IgG. Similarly, with several different NADH-requiring enzymes, an immunocrossreactivity was observed. Monospecific anti-(rabbit muscle glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) IgG inhibited yeast alcohol dehydrogenase and pig heart malate dehydrogenase by 39% and 55% respectively. The cross-reactivity observed was tested by affinity chromatography. Immunoaffinity columns made with each monospecific IgG were able to bind each of the enzymes it immunotitrated. Enzymes were eluted with a nondenaturing solvent with little loss of activity. The immunoaffinity column with monospecific anti-(glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) IgG as the bound ligand was also used to purify partially (over 150-fold) both isocitrate dehydrogenase and dihydrofolate reductase from crude rat liver homogenate.     

Antigenic Differences Among Epimastigotes,Amastigotes and Trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi*

Antigenic differences were demonstrated among trypomastigotes, amastigotes, and epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi by the indirect fluorescent antibody method. Tests using cross-absorbed sera were included in the study.     

Acetate oxidation by bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma cruzi.

Bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma cruzi had a substantial increase in respiration in the presence of acetate. Oxidation of acetate took place via the tricarboxylic acid cycle and involved an antimycin A-sensitive respiratory pathway. Oxygen uptake in the presence of acetate was a sensitive to antimycin A inhibition as was CO2 production. There was a 6--7% residual O2 uptake which was not inhibited by high antimycin concentrations. Human anti-T. cruzi sera had no effect on oxygen uptake.     

Purification of a brain-specific astroglial protein by immunoaffinity chromatography

An immunoaffinity chromatography procedure for the isolation of bovine glial fibrillary acidic (GFA) protein is described. Degraded GFA protein isolated by hydroxyapatite chromatography from human spinal cord was used to prepare the antiserum. The immunoglogulin G fraction of the antiserum was covalently linked to CNBr-activated Sepharose, and columns of the immuno-affinity gel were used to adsorb bovine GFA protein from brain extracts. Elution was accomplished with a solution of 1 m acetic acid, 5 m urea, 0.8 m sodium chloride, pH 2.5. The yield of about 0.5 mg of highly purified protein/g of cerebral white matter could be increased to 1.5 mg/g of tissue by lowering the ionic strength of the extracting buffer from 50 mm to 1 mm sodium phosphate. Isolation in the presence of EDTA prevented the formation of an oxidation product migrating as a dimer of the monomeric species on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.     

Purification of swine kidney alkaline phosphatase by immunoaffinity chromatography

A homogeneous alkaline phosphatase preparation was obtained from swine kidney cortex by a simple purification step of immunoaffinity chromatography. The enzyme was purified 426 times that of the initial acetone powder with a recovery of 69.6% and a specific activity of 1206 units/mg of protein. The sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoretic pattern showed a single 80,000-M_r protein band as the monomer of the purified enzyme.     

Acylation-dependent Export of Trypanosoma cruzi Phosphoinositide-specific Phospholipase C to the Outer Surface of Amastigotes

Phosphoinositide phospholipase C (PI-PLC) plays an essential role in cell signaling. A unique Trypanosoma cruzi PI-PLC (TcPI-PLC) is lipid-modified in its N terminus and localizes to the plasma membrane of amastigotes. Here, we show that TcPI-PLC is located onto the extracellular phase of the plasma membrane of amastigotes and that its N-terminal 20 amino acids are necessary and sufficient to target the fused GFP to the outer surface of the parasite. Mutagenesis of the predicted acylated residues confirmed that myristoylation of a glycine residue in the 2nd position and acyl modification of a cysteine in the 4th but not in the 8th or 15th position of the coding sequence are required for correct plasma membrane localization in T. cruzi epimastigotes or amastigotes. Interestingly, mutagenesis of the cysteine at the 8th position increased its flagellar localization. When expressed as fusion constructs with GFP, the N-terminal 6 and 10 amino acids fused to GFP are predominantly located in the cytosol and concentrated in a compartment that co-localizes with a Golgi complex marker. The N-terminal 20 amino acids of TcPI-PLC associate with lipid rafts when dually acylated. Taken together, these results indicate that N-terminal acyl modifications serve as a molecular addressing system for sending TcPI-PLC to the outer surface of the cell.     

Purification of A-subtype pancreatic cholecystokinin receptor by immunoaffinity chromatography.

So far, no efficient affinity chromatography for CCK receptor purification has been reported that prevented obtention of sequenceable amounts of purified receptor. In this work, 10% of plasma membrane receptor sites were specifically cross-linked with the photoreactive cleavable agonist 125I-ASD-[Thr28, Ahx31]-CCK-25-33, solubilized by NP-40, chromatographied on immobilized wheat germ agglutinin and further immunopurified using anti-CCK antibodies to an overall rate of 3000-3600-fold. Analysis of eluted material demonstrated a protein migrating at Mr 85,000-100,000 and the absence of 35S-labeled impurity. This single and efficient affinity chromatography should provide enough homogeneous receptor protein for microsequence determination and leads to consider immunoaffinity chromatography on immobilized anti-ligand antibodies as a potential tool for purification of membrane receptors.     

Purification of recombinant proteins by immunoaffinity chromatography with preselected antibodies

Summary Nuclease produced by recombinant Escherichia coli was successfully purified by immunoaffinity chromatography using an antibody preselected for the purpose on the basis of an elution assay. The elution assay was also used to optimize elution conditions. One step recovery of nuclease from crude periplasmic extract was 66%.     

Purification of endogenous digitalis-like factor(s) from cord blood of neonate by immunoaffinity chromatography.

We have previously shown that antidigoxin antibodies may neutralize partially purified endogenous digitalis like factor(s) present in newborn (umbilical cord) plasma. We here report on the preparation of an immunoaffinity chromatographic system (high affinity digoxin-binding antibodies (Fab fragments) bound covalently to Sepharose) for the purification of endogenous digitalis like factor(s). Neonate plasma extract loses all its biological digitalis-like activity (erythrocyte 86Rb uptake inhibition) after absorption on Sepharose coupled to Fab fragments but not after absorption on uncoupled Sepharose. Endogenous digitalis like factor(s) absorbed to Sepharose coupled to Fab fragments can be eluted by methanol. Subsequent HPLC separation indicate that at least two molecular species with digitalis-like properties are retained by antibodies bound to Sepharose and can be recovered with methanol.     

Glycolipid components of epimastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi

Glycosphingolipids were isolated from a lipid extract of epimastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi via Florisil and silicic acid column chromatography. The carbohydrate components of neutral glycolipid consisted of mannose and galactose in a ratio of 1:2. The fatty acids of the glycolipid were analyzed by gas liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (g.l.c.-m.s.). Normal and 2-hydroxy fatty acids were found. The sphingosine bases were C18 dihydrosphingosine and 17-methyl sphingosine.     

Purification of a corpuscular influenza vaccine by means of immunoaffinity chromatography

Two immunoaffinity chromatographic methods for the purification of corpuscular influenza vaccine from the admixture of chick embryo components have been examined. The isolation of the virus on immobilized antiviral antibodies has proved to be unsuitable for preparative purposes. The method for the purification of the vaccine from ovalbumin with the use of immobilized anti-ovalbumin antibodies has proved to be highly effective. When introduced into guinea pigs in 3 injections, the vaccine purified by immunosorption has been found to produce no anaphylactic reactions.     

Purification of human liver fumarylacetoacetase using immunoaffinity chromatography

A method is described to purify fumarylacetoacetase from crude human liver extracts using immunoaffinity chromatography. Immobilized rabbit antibodies specific for beef liver fumarylacetoacetase were used as an immunoadsorbent. With this rapid and specific procedure human liver fumarylacetoacetase could be purified to apparent homogeneity. The molecular weight of native human liver fumarylacetoacetase is approximately 83000 as estimated by gel filtration. The two subunits have a molecular weight of approximately 41000, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Purified human liver fumarylacetoacetase has a broad pH optimum with a maximum at pH 7.2 and a K_m = 2.1 μM towards fumarylacetoacetate.