Lack of Arginine Decarboxylase in Trypanosoma cruzi Epimastigotes

The presence of arginine decarboxylase (ADC) enzymatic activity in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes is still a matter of controversy due to conflicting results published during the last few years. We have investigated whether arginine might indeed be a precursor of putrescine via agmatine in these pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of eukaryotic microbiology 2003-09, Vol.50 (5), p.312-316
Main Authors: CARRILLO, CAROLINA, CEJAS, SILVINA, HUBER, ALEJANDRA, GONZÁLEZ, NÉLIDA S, ALGRANATI, ISRAEL D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agmatine
Animals
Arginine - metabolism
Biochemistry. Physiology. Immunology. Molecular biology
Biological and medical sciences
Carboxy-Lyases - deficiency
Carboxy-Lyases - metabolism
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Ornithine - metabolism
polyamine biosynthetic pathways
Protozoa
Putrescine - metabolism
Trypanosoma cruzi - enzymology
Trypanosoma cruzi - growth & development
Trypanosoma cruzi - metabolism
trypanosomatids
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Summary:The presence of arginine decarboxylase (ADC) enzymatic activity in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes is still a matter of controversy due to conflicting results published during the last few years. We have investigated whether arginine might indeed be a precursor of putrescine via agmatine in these parasites. We have shown that wild-type T. cruzi epimastigotes cultivated in a medium almost free of polyamines stopped their growth after several repeated passages of cultures in the same medium, and that neither arginine nor ornithine were able to support or reinitiate parasite multiplication. In contrast, normal growth was quickly resumed after adding exogenous putrescine or spermidine. The in vivo labelling of parasites with radioactive arginine showed no conversion of this amino acid into agmatine, and attempts to detect ADC activity measured by the release of CO2 under different conditions in T. cruzi extracts gave negligible values for all strains assayed. The described data clearly indicate that wild-type T. cruzi epimastigotes lack ADC enzymatic activity.
ISSN:1066-5234
1550-7408
DOI:10.1111/j.1550-7408.2003.tb00141.x