Ultrastructural localization of glycoconjugates in Tritrichomonas foetus

Abstract

We have probed Tritrichomonas foetus, a protozoan parasite of the urogenital tract of cattle, with gold-labeled and fluorescent lectins, for the localization of glycoconjugates, at the cell surface and in internal cell compartments. The following lectins were used: Con A, PNA, WGA, BSI, BSII, HPA, WFA, SBA, LFA, HPA, and LCA. Carbohydrates were also localized using the Thiéry's technique. Carbohydrate residues were observed in the Golgi and vesicles with all lectins used. However, the labeling pattern varied among the cisternae. A high heterogeneity of cell labeling was detected in the same preparation. The nucleus and the nuclear envelope were labeled with Con A, WGA, BSI, and UEA I, suggesting the presence of D-Man, and/or D-glucose, L-fucose, and GlcNAc. Lysosomes were labeled with Con A and intensely labeled with HPA. The intensity of labeling of the plasma and flagellar membranes varied according to the lectin used.

Lectinhistochemical detection of terminal carbohydrate residues in the enteric myxozoan Enteromyxum leei parasitizing gilthead seabream Sparus aurata (Pisces: Teleostei): a study using light and transmission electron microscopy

“…Galactose and/or GalNAc residues were also detected in the mitochondria and nuclei of some cells in proliferative stages of E. scophthalmi (Redondo et al 2008) and Z. mugilis (Muñoz et al 2000). These carbohydrate residues were also present in the nuclei of other parasites, such as Tritrichomonas foetus (Benchimol and Bernardino 2002).…”

“…Fucose residues were, by contrast, scarcely or not found in other myxozoans. However, a clear presence of terminal α-linked fucose moieties has been described in several protozoan and helminth parasites (Wisnewski et al 1993, Benchimol and Bernardino 2002, Schabussová et al 2003, Hokke and Yazdanbakhsh 2005. Fucosylated carbohydrate structures are involved in a variety of biological and pathological processes, including the adhesion and invasion of microorganisms, and they are known to have immunological relevance in hostparasite interactions (Wisnewski et al 1993, John et al Figs.…”

Detection of carbohydrate terminals in the enteric parasite Enteromyxum scophthalmi (Myxozoa) and possible interactions with its fish host Psetta maxima

“…Scarce information is available on the lectin-binding patterns to cellular structures in myxosporeans. However, the intracellular localisation of lectin-binding sites is a promising approach to determine sites at which changes occur in the oligosaccharide chains of glycoconjugates (Benchimol and Vargas-Bernardino 2004). In E. scophthalmi, the dominant structures at the parasite membrane and the host-parasite interface were mainly glucose-mannose but also N-acetylglucosamine, α-D-galactose and N-acetyl-galactosamine, most of them detected also in T. bryosalmonae plasmalemma though scantly (Morris and Adams 2004).…”

Tritrichomonas foetus pseudocysts adhere to vaginal epithelial cells in a contact-dependent manner

“…Many molecules are thought to be involved in the adhesion processes of trichomonads. These include a glycoprotein present in T. foetus that recognizes sialic acid on the surface of target cells (Bonilha et al 1995;, adhesin-like proteins which promote hemaglutination in T. foetus (Da Silva et al 1996Silva et al , 1999, manose residues and other sugars and glycoconjugates located on the surface of T. foetus and/or Trichomonas vaginalis (Cappuccinelli et al 1975;Mirhaghani and Warton 1998;Benchimol and Bernardino 2002).…”