Evidence for a Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide-Recognizing G-ProteinCoupled Receptor in the Bacterial Engulfment by Entamoeba histolytica

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2013-11-01
Authors
Brewer, Matthew
Agbedanu, Prince
Zamanian, Mostafa
Day, Timothy
Carlson, Steve
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Brewer, Matt
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Biomedical Sciences

The Department of Biomedical Sciences aims to provide knowledge of anatomy and physiology in order to understand the mechanisms and treatment of animal diseases. Additionally, it seeks to teach the understanding of drug-action for rational drug-therapy, as well as toxicology, pharmacodynamics, and clinical drug administration.

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The Department of Biomedical Sciences was formed in 1999 as a merger of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and the Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology.

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1999–present

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  • College of Veterinary Medicine (parent college)
  • Department of Veterinary Anatomy (predecessor, 1997)
  • Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology (predecessor, 1997)

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Biomedical Sciences
Abstract

Entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amoebic dysentery, a worldwide protozoal disease that results in approximately 100,000 deaths annually. The virulence of E. histolytica may be due to interactions with the host bacterial flora, whereby trophozoites engulf colonic bacteria as a nutrient source. The engulfment process depends on trophozoite recognition of bacterial epitopes that activate phagocytosis pathways. E. histolytica GPCR-1 (EhGPCR-1) was previously recognized as a putative G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) used by Entamoeba histolytica during phagocytosis. In the present study, we attempted to characterize EhGPCR-1 by using heterologous GPCR expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We discovered that bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an activator of EhGPCR-1 and that LPS stimulates EhGPCR-1 in a concentration-dependent manner. Additionally, we demonstrated that Entamoeba histolytica prefers to engulf bacteria with intact LPS and that this engulfment process is sensitive to suramin, which prevents the interactions of GPCRs and G-proteins. Thus, EhGPCR-1 is an LPS-recognizing GPCR that is a potential drug target for treatment of amoebiasis, especially considering the well-established drug targeting to GPCRs.

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This article is from Eukaryotic Cell 12 (2013): 1433–1438, doi:10.1128/EC.00150-13. Posted with permision.

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Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2016
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