Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Factors involved in microsporidian spore polar filament (infection apparatus) extrusion.
Abstr Gen Meet Am Soc Microbiol. 1993;93:27 (abstract no. B-6). Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ASM93/93291806 He Q; Leitch GJ; Visvesvara GS; Wallace S; Morehouse Sch. Med., Atlanta, GA.
Abstract:
Microsporidia are obligate intracellular protozoan parasites. An in vitro polar filament extrusion assay was developed using spores from a strain of Encephalitozoon hellem isolated from an AIDS patient and cultured in a monkey kidney cell line. Incubation in a medium resembling extracellular fluid resulted in polar filament extrusion by some spores. This extrusion was stimulated by H2O2, urea and proteolytic enzymes (trypsin and papain), but not chitinase. Both spontaneous and stimulated germination were reduced by removal of calcium or sodium from the medium. The calcium channel blocker, nifedipine, the microtubule disruptor, demicolcine, the microfilament disruptor, cytochalasin D, and the antifungal agent, itraconazole, all inhibited spontaneous, and to a lesser degree, stimulated filament extrusion. These results are consistent with spore germination involving an alteration in spore coat integrity, perhaps associated with an influx of medium sodium, an intraspore calcium signal, and a requirement for intact cytoskeletal elements.
Keywords: Animal Antifungal Agents/PHARMACOLOGY AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/*PARASITOLOGY Calcium/PHARMACOLOGY Cell Line Cytochalasin D/PHARMACOLOGY Encephalitozoon/DRUG EFFECTS/*ISOLATION & PURIF/*PHYSIOLOGY Encephalitozoonosis/*ETIOLOGY Haplorhini Human Ketoconazole/ANALOGS & DERIVATIVES/PHARMACOLOGY Kidney Nifedipine/PHARMACOLOGY Sodium/PHARMACOLOGY Spores/DRUG EFFECTS/PHYSIOLOGY ABSTRACT 930930
M9391165
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