Protein profiles and immunoreactivities of Acanthamoeba morphological groups and genotypes

Acanthamoeba is a free-living protozoan found in a wide variety of habitats. A classification of Acanthamoeba into currently eighteen genotypes (T1-T18) has been established, however, data on differences between genotypes on the protein level are scarce. The aim of this study was to compare protein and immunoreactivity profiles of Acanthamoeba genotypes. Thirteen strains, both clinical and non-clinical, from genotypes T4, T5, T6, T7, T9, T11 and T12, representing three morphological groups, were investigated for their protein profiles and IgG, IgM and IgA immunoreactivities. It was shown that protein and immunoreactivity profiles of Acanthamoeba genotypes T4, T5, T6, T7, T9, T11 and T12 are clearly distinct from each other, but the banding patterns correlate to the morphological groups. Normal human sera revealed anti-Acanthamoeba antibodies against isolates of all investigated genotypes, interestingly, however only very weak IgM and virtually no IgA immunoreactivity with T7 and T9, both representing morphological group I. The strongest IgG, IgM and IgA immunoreactivities were observed for genotypes T4, T5 and T6. Differences of both, protein and immunological patterns, between cytopathic and non-cytopathic strains, particularly within genotype T4, were not at the level of banding patterns, but rather in expression levels.