Anel Edith Lagunes-Guillen

UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, campus Narvik · Energy and Material Technology

Acanthamoeba spp. is the etiological agent of amoebic keratitis. In this study, the effect of taurine in physiological concentrations in tears (195 μM) on trophozoites of Acanthamoeba castellanii through the ex vivo amoebic keratitis model was evaluated. Trophozoites were coincubated with the Syrian golden hamster cornea (Mesocricetus auratus) for...

The leader of the capsid (LC) protein is exclusive to the Vesivirus genus, and it is needed for successful feline calicivirus (FCV) replication, as well as an efficient apoptosis induction through the mitochondrial pathway. In this work, we aimed to determine if the LC protein from the FCV is a viroporin. Although lacking in a transmembrane domain...

Acanthamoeba castellanii is the etiological agent of granulomatous amebic encephalitis, amebic keratitis, and skin lesions. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that Acanthamoeba trophozoites induce contact-dependent, and contact-independent pathogenic mechanisms. We have explored the potential role neuroactive substances may have in the...

Septins are a family of GTP-binding proteins identified in insects and mammals. Septins are components of the cytoskeleton and participate in cytokinesis, chromosomal segregation, intracellular vesicular traffic, and response to pathogens. Human septin 6 was identified as necessary for hepatitis C virus replication. Information about host factors n...

Background Flying is an essential function for mosquitoes, required for mating and, in the case of females, to get a blood meal and consequently function as a vector. Flight depends on the action of the indirect flight muscles (IFMs), which power the wings beat. No description of the development of IFMs in mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti, is av...

Highly dynamic ribosomes, glycogen granules, thinly fibrillar material, and multiple membrane-bound vesicles are embedded in the matrix-rich cytoplasm of Entamoeba spp. trophozoites. The absence of a Golgi apparatus in these amoebae has been commonly accepted. Here we challenge this observation by incubating Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba disp...

Peroxisomes perform various metabolic processes that are primarily related to the elimination of reactive oxygen species and oxidative lipid metabolism. These organelles are present in all major eukaryotic lineages, nevertheless, information regarding the presence of peroxisomes in opportunistic parasitic protozoa is scarce and in many cases it is...

Trichomonas vaginalis (Tv) induces host cell damage through cysteine proteinases (CPs) modulated by iron. An immunoproteomic analysis showed that trichomoniasis patient sera recognize various CPs, also some of them are present in vaginal washes (VWs). Thus, the goal of this work was to determine whether TvCP2 is expressed during infection and to as...

ABSTRACT. Background: Since recent reports have shown that (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) could be used for treating proliferative and inflammatory disorders, we explored its use for the management of corneal chemical burns. Materials and methods: Initially, EGCG was assayed on the rabbit corneal epithelial cell line RCE1(5T5) to establish...

Transcription factor IID (TFIID) is a cornerstone in the transcription initiation in eukaryotes. It is composed of TBP and approximately 14 different subunits named TBP-associated factors (TAFs). TFIID has a key role in transcription of many genes involved in cell proliferation, cell growth, cell cycle, cell cycle checkpoint, and various other proc...

Cellular proteins have been identified to participate in calicivirus replication in association with viral proteins and/or viral RNAs. By mass spectrometry from pull-down assays, we identified several cellular proteins bound to the feline calicivirus (FCV) genomic RNA; among them the lipid raft-associated scaffold protein Annexin (Anx) A2. AnxA2 co...

Telomeric Repeat Binding Factors (TRFs) are architectural nuclear proteins with critical roles in telomere-length regulation, chromosome end protection and, fusion prevention, DNA damage detection, and senescence regulation. Entamoeba histolytica, the parasite responsible of human amoebiasis, harbors three homologs of human TRFs, based on sequence...

Entamoeba histolytica, the causal agent of human amoebiasis, has two morphologically different phases: a resistant cyst and a trophozoite responsible for the invasion of the host tissues such as the colonic mucosa and the intestinal epithelium. During in vitro migration, trophozoites usually produce protuberances such as pseudopods and rarely filop...

Micropatterned Grill Lines. (A) Preparation of the MPGLs with FN or RBCs extracts at low and high concentrations, and observation of fresh dry MPGLs by light microscopy (40X, scale bar in μm). (B) Culture method on the MPGLs at 37°C by 1–5 h in TYI-S-33 medium. Cells were fixed with 4% p-formaldehyde or 2.5% (v/v) glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M sodium cac...

Trichomonas vaginalis is a flagellated protist responsible for human trichomoniasis. T. vaginalis has three genes encoding for endogenous cysteine proteinase (CP) inhibitors, known as trichocystatin-1 through trichocystatin-3 (TC-1, TC-2, and TC-3). These inhibitors belong to the cystatin family. In this study, we characterized trichocystatin-3 (TC...

Dengue virus (DENV) is an arbovirus, which replicates in the endoplasmic reticulum. Although replicative cycle takes place in the cytoplasm, some viral proteins such as NS5 and C are translocated to the nucleus during infection in mosquitoes and mammalian cells. To localized viral proteins in DENV-infected C6/36 cells, an immunofluorescence (IF) an...

Using ultrastructural cytochemical techniques we have found differences in the distribution of surface coat components between the invasive protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica and the non-invasive Entamoeba dispar. Carbohydrate-containing components and anionic sites in the cell surface of both species were detected by staining with ruthenium...

Here, we investigated the role of EhVps32 protein (a member of the endosomal-sorting complex required for transport) in endocytosis of Entamoeba histolytica, a professional phagocyte. Confocal microscopy, TEM and cell fractionation revealed EhVps32 in cytoplasmic vesicles and also located adjacent to the plasma membrane. Between 5 to 30 min of phag...

Cytoskeleton remodeling can be regulated, among other mechanisms, by lysine acetylation. The role of acetylation on cytoskeletal and other proteins of Entamoeba histolytica has been poorly studied. Dynamic rearrangements of the actin cytoskeleton are crucial for amebic motility and capping formation, processes that may be effective means of evading...

During Acanthamoeba castellanii trophozoite-cysts differentiation, four morphological stages were identified by scanning electron microscopy: trophozoite, precyst, immature cysts, and mature cysts. Fluorescence microscopy reveals the presence of small cumulus of actin in the cytoplasm of precysts after treatment with rhodamine phalloidin. By the co...

Cytoskeleton remodeling can be regulated, among other mechanisms, by lysine acetylation. The role of acetylation on cytoskeletal and other proteins of Entamoeba histolytica has been poorly studied. Dynamic rearrangements of the actin cytoskeleton are crucial for amebic motility and capping formation, processes that may be effective means of evading...

In the genus Entamoeba, actin reorganization is necessary for cyst differentiation; however, its role is still unknown. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of actin and encystation-related proteins during Entamoeba invadens encystation. Studied proteins were actin, RhoA, a small GTPase involved through its effectors in the rearrangemen...