Korean J Parasitol.
2013 Aug;51(4):413-419. 10.3347/kjp.2013.51.4.413.
Overexpression of Ubiquitin and Amino Acid Permease Genes in Association with Antimony Resistance in Leishmania tropica Field Isolates
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mohebali@sina.tums.ac.ir
- 2Center for Research of Endemic Parasites of Iran (CREPI), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
- 3Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
- 4Center for Research & Training in Skin Diseases & Leprosy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
- 5Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mohebali@sina.tums.ac.ir
- 6Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
- 7Stem Cell Preparation Unit, Farabi Eye Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
- KMID: 1715686
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2013.51.4.413
Abstract
- The mainstay therapy against leishmaniasis is still pentavalent antimonial drugs; however, the rate of antimony resistance is increasing in endemic regions such as Iran. Understanding the molecular basis of resistance to antimonials could be helpful to improve treatment strategies. This study aimed to recognize genes involved in antimony resistance of Leishmania tropica field isolates. Sensitive and resistant L. tropica parasites were isolated from anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis patients and drug susceptibility of parasites to meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime(R)) was confirmed using in vitro assay. Then, complementary DNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) and real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) approaches were utilized on mRNAs from resistant and sensitive L. tropica isolates. We identified 2 known genes, ubiquitin implicated in protein degradation and amino acid permease (AAP3) involved in arginine uptake. Also, we identified 1 gene encoding hypothetical protein. Real-time RT-PCR revealed a significant upregulation of ubiquitin (2.54-fold), and AAP3 (2.86-fold) (P<0.05) in a resistant isolate compared to a sensitive one. Our results suggest that overexpression of ubiquitin and AAP3 could potentially implicated in natural antimony resistance.
Keyword
MeSH Terms
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Amino Acid Transport Systems/*genetics/metabolism
Antimony/*pharmacology
Antipruritics/*pharmacology
*Drug Resistance
Humans
Leishmania tropica/drug effects/enzymology/*genetics/isolation & purification
Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/*parasitology
Protozoan Proteins/*genetics/metabolism
Ubiquitin/*genetics/metabolism
Amino Acid Transport Systems
Antimony
Antipruritics
Protozoan Proteins
Ubiquitin
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