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Related Experiment Videos

Growth cycle-dependent generation of complement-resistant Leishmania promastigotes.

E D Franke, P B McGreevy, S P Katz

    Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
    |April 1, 1985
    PubMed
    Summary

    Leishmania promastigotes develop complement resistance in stationary phase cultures, enabling survival in human serum. This resistance is crucial for initiating infection in animal models, highlighting a key stage in the parasite's life cycle.

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    Area of Science:

    • Parasitology
    • Immunology
    • Cell Biology

    Background:

    • Leishmania parasites are transmitted by sandflies and cause leishmaniasis.
    • The parasite's interaction with the host immune system, particularly complement, is critical for infection establishment.
    • Understanding the stages of Leishmania development and their survival mechanisms is essential for disease control.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate the ability of in vitro grown Leishmania promastigotes to resist complement-mediated lysis and survive in human serum.
    • To determine the influence of Leishmania species and culture growth phase on complement resistance.
    • To assess the infectivity of complement-resistant Leishmania promastigotes in a mammalian host model.

    Main Methods:

    • Culturing Leishmania promastigotes in vitro to log and stationary phases.

    Related Experiment Videos

  • Exposing promastigotes to undiluted normal human serum and heat-inactivated/EDTA-chelated serum.
  • Assessing parasite survival and lysis using microscopy and viability assays.
  • Infecting Mystromys albicaudatus with selected Leishmania strains and evaluating lesion development.

    • Main Results:

    • Promastigote survival in human serum varied by Leishmania species and growth phase.
    • Log phase promastigotes were consistently killed, while stationary phase promastigotes showed differential survival (e.g., L.b. panamensis up to 30%, L. donovani up to 10%).
    • Complement activation was identified as the mechanism of lysis, inhibited by heat inactivation and EDTA.
    • Complement-resistant stationary phase L.b. panamensis were capable of initiating infection and were more infective in M. albicaudatus compared to log phase or unselected stationary phase parasites.

    Conclusions:

    • In vitro culture allows Leishmania promastigotes to develop a stage resistant to complement-mediated killing.
    • Complement resistance is a critical factor for Leishmania survival upon host entry.
    • The findings support the concept of a specialized infective promastigote stage generated during sandfly development, adapted to survive host serum.