Target cell deformability determines the type of phagocytic mechanism used by Entamoeba histolytica-like, Laredo...

Morphological study of red blood cell phagocytosis by Entamoeba histolytica-like (Laredo strain) has shown that this amoeba is able to ingest by two distinct mechanisms. One is classical phagocytosis and the other is by suction or microphagocytosis. Rigidification of red blood cells by treatment with glutaraldehyde shows that there is a correlation between the deformability of the ingested cell and the type of phagocytosis observed. Indeed, as the red cells become more rigid, less microphagocytosis is observed. To demonstrate that this shift in phagocytic mechanisms is not induced by the modification of a surface receptor by the glutaraldehyde treatment, the amoebas were fed with erythrocyte ghosts. Since these have lost most of their hemoglobin content, they are less rigid than the intact erythrocytes. The ghosts, even after glutaraldehyde treatment, are always ingested by microphagocytosis. These results have therefore led us to conclude that the type of erythrocyte phagocytosis used by E histolytica-like (Laredo strain) is determined by the deformability of the targetted red blood cells.