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Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease in humans, is an intracellular protozoan parasite with the ability to invade a wide variety of mammalian cells by a unique and remarkable process in cell biology that is poorly understood. Here we present evidence suggesting a role for the host phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinases during T. cruzi invasion. The PI 3-kinase inhibitor wortmannin marked inhibited T. cruzi infection when macrophages were pretreated for 20 min at 37°C before inoculation. Infection of macrophages with T. cruzi markedly stimulated the formation of the lipid products of the phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinases, PI 3-phospate , PI 3,4-biphosphate, and PI 3,4,5-triphosphate, but not PI 4-phosphate or PI 4,5-biphosphate. This activation was inhibited by wortmannin. Infection with T. cruzi also stimulated a marked increase in the in vitro lipid kinase activities that are present in the immunoprecipitates of anti-p85 subunit of class I PI 3-kinase and anti-phosphotyrosine. In addition, T. cruzi invasion also activated lipid kinase activity found in immunoprecipitates of class II and class III PI 3-kinases. These data demonstrate that T. cruzi invasion into macrophages strongly activates separated PI 3-kinase isoforms. Furthermore, the inhibition of the class I and class III PI 3-kinase activities abolishes the parasite entry into macrophages. These findings suggest a prominent role for the host PI 3-kinase activities during the T. cruzi infection process.Trypanosoma cruzi, an intracellular protozoan parasite that infects humans and other mammalian hosts, is the etiologic agent of Chagas' disease that is a major public health problem in Latin America (1). This parasite is now viewed as an emerging human pathogen of HIV-1-infected individuals as it can be transmitted through blood transfusions (2). This unicellular parasite presents three developmental stages; epimastigote and amastigote forms correspond to proliferative stages found in the invertebrate and vertebrate hosts, respectively. The trypomastigote forms are infective and invade different host cell types, first macrophages, in order to replicate (3).How T. cruzi trypomastigotes signal to gain entry and survive in their host is not completely understood. However, some evidence suggests that T. cruzi interacts with different signaling systems of the host. It has been shown that the transforming growth factor ␤-receptor signaling pathway is essential for T. cruzi invasion (4). Activation of a calcium-dependent host cell pathway by T. cruzi has also been reported (3, 5). In addition, T. cruzi invasion has been shown to induce tyrosine phosphorylation of macrophage proteins (6), as well as activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (7). Thus, the blockade of tyrosine kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase activities in the host macrophage by inhibitors (7,8) ablate the infection of these cells by T. cruzi, suggesting that activation of kinase pathways is an important event in this process. Invasion of T. cruzi into...

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Live Trypanosoma cruzi amastigotes hydrolyzed p-nitrophenylphosphate (PNPP), phos-pho-amino-acids and 32P-casein under physiologically appropriate conditions. PNPP was hy­drolysed at a rate of 80 nmol ·mg -1 ·h -1 in the presence of 5 mм MgCl2, pH 7.2 at 30 °C. In the absence of Mg2+ the activity was reduced 40% and we call this basal activity. At saturating concentration of PNPP, half-maximal PNPP hydrolysis was obtained with 0.22 mм MgCl2· Ca2+ had no effect on the basal activity, could not substitute Mg2+ as an activator and in contrast inhibited the PNPP hydrolysis stimulated by Mg2+ (I50 = 0.43 mм ) . In the absence of Mg2+ (basal activity) the stimulating half concentration (S0. 5) for PNPP was 1.57 mм , while at saturating MgCl2 concentrations the corresponding S0.5 for PNPP for Mg2+-stimulated phosphatase activity (difference between total minus basal phosphatase activity) was 0.99 mм . The Mg-dependent PNPP hydrolysis was strongly inhibited by sodium fluoride (NaF), vanadate and Zn2+ but not by tartrate and levamizole. The Mg-independent basal phosphatase activity was insensitive to tartrate, levamizole as well NaF and less inhibited by vanadate and Zn2+. Intact amastigotes were also able to hydrolyse phosphoserine, phos-phothreonine and phosphotyrosine but only the phosphotyrosine hydrolysis was stimulated by MgCl2 and inhibited by CaCl2 and phosphotyrosine was a competitive inhibitor of the PNPP hydrolysis stimulated by Mg2+. The cells were also able to hydrolyse 32P-casein phosphorylated on serine and threonine residues but only in the presence of MgCl2. These results indicate that in the amastigote form of T. cruzi there are at least two ectophosphatase activities, one of which is Mg2+ dependent and can dephosphorylate phospho-aminoacids and phosphoproteins under physiological conditions.