[Abstract unavailable

Recent work has shown that acidocalcisomes, which are electron-dense acidic organelles rich in calcium and polyphosphate, are the only organelles that have been conserved during evolution from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Acidocalcisomes were first described in trypanosomatids and have been characterized in most detail in these species. Acidocalcisomes have been linked with several functions, including storage of cations and phosphorus, polyphosphate metabolism, calcium homeostasis, maintenance of intracellular pH homeostasis and osmoregulation. Here, we review acidocalcisome ultrastructure, composition and function in different trypanosomatids and other organisms.

A major ceramide monohexoside (CMH) was purified from lipidic extracts of Cryptococcus neoformans. This molecule was analyzed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry. The cryptococcal CMH is a ␤-glucosylceramide, with the carbohydrate residue attached to 9-methyl-4,8-sphingadienine in amidic linkage to 2-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid. Sera from patients with cryptococcosis and a few other mycoses reacted with the cryptococcal CMH. Specific antibodies were purified from patients' sera by immunoadsorption on the purified glycolipid followed by protein G affinity chromatography. The purified antibodies to CMH (mainly immunoglobulin G1) bound to different strains and serological types of C. neoformans, as shown by flow cytofluorimetry and immunofluorescence labeling. Transmission electron microscopy of yeasts labeled with immunogoldantibodies to CMH and immunostaining of isolated cell wall lipid extracts separated by HPTLC showed that the cryptococcal CMH predominantly localizes to the fungal cell wall. Confocal microscopy revealed that the ␤-glucosylceramide accumulates mostly at the budding sites of dividing cells with a more disperse distribution at the cell surface of nondividing cells. The increased density of sphingolipid molecules seems to correlate with thickening of the cell wall, hence with its biosynthesis. The addition of human antibodies to CMH to cryptococcal cultures of both acapsular and encapsulated strains of C. neoformans inhibited cell budding and cell growth. This process was complement-independent and reversible upon removal of the antibodies. The present data suggest that the cryptococcal ␤-glucosylceramide is a fungal antigen that plays a role on the cell wall synthesis and yeast budding and that antibodies raised against this component are inhibitory in vitro.

SummaryToxoplasma gondii belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa and is an important cause of congenital disease and infection in immunocompromised patients. Like most apicomplexans, T. gondii possesses several plant-like features, such as the chloroplast-like organelle, the apicoplast. We describe and characterize a novel organelle in T. gondii tachyzoites, which is visible by light microscopy and possesses a broad similarity to the plant vacuole. Electron tomography shows the interaction of this vacuole with other organelles. The presence of a plant-like vacuolar proton pyrophosphatase (TgVP1), a vacuolar proton ATPase, a cathepsin L-like protease (TgCPL), an aquaporin (TgAQP1), as well as Ca 2+ /H + and Na + /H + exchange activities, supports similarity to the plant vacuole. Biochemical characterization of TgVP1 in enriched fractions shows a functional similarity to the respective plant enzyme. The organelle is a Ca 2+ store and appears to have protective effects against salt stress potentially linked to its sodium transport activity. In intracellular parasites, the organelle fragments, with some markers colocalizing with the late endosomal marker, Rab7, suggesting its involvement with the endocytic pathway. Studies on the characterization of this novel organelle will be relevant to the identification of novel targets for chemotherapy against T. gondii and other apicomplexan parasites as well.

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