TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bargul, Joel L.
A1  - Jung, Jamin
A1  - McOdimba, Francis A.
A1  - Omogo, Collins O.
A1  - Adung'a, Vincent O.
A1  - Krüger, Timothy
A1  - Masiga, Daniel K.
A1  - Engstler, Markus
T1  - Species-Specific Adaptations of Trypanosome Morphology and Motility to the Mammalian Host
JF  - PLoS Pathogens
N2  - African trypanosomes thrive in the bloodstream and tissue spaces of a wide range of mammalian hosts. Infections of cattle cause an enormous socio-economic burden in sub-Saharan Africa. A hallmark of the trypanosome lifestyle is the flagellate’s incessant motion. This work details the cell motility behavior of the four livestock-parasites Trypanosoma vivax, T. brucei, T. evansi and T. congolense. The trypanosomes feature distinct swimming patterns, speeds and flagellar wave frequencies, although the basic mechanism of flagellar propulsion is conserved, as is shown by extended single flagellar beat analyses. Three-dimensional analyses of the trypanosomes expose a high degree of dynamic pleomorphism, typified by the ‘cellular waveform’. This is a product of the flagellar oscillation, the chirality of the flagellum attachment and the stiffness of the trypanosome cell body. The waveforms are characteristic for each trypanosome species and are influenced by changes of the microenvironment, such as differences in viscosity and the presence of confining obstacles. The distinct cellular waveforms may be reflective of the actual anatomical niches the parasites populate within their mammalian host. T. vivax displays waveforms optimally aligned to the topology of the bloodstream, while the two subspecies T. brucei and T. evansi feature distinct cellular waveforms, both additionally adapted to motion in more confined environments such as tissue spaces. T. congolense reveals a small and stiff waveform, which makes these parasites weak swimmers and destined for cell adherence in low flow areas of the circulation. Thus, our experiments show that the differential dissemination and annidation of trypanosomes in their mammalian hosts may depend on the distinct swimming capabilities of the parasites.
KW  - swimming
KW  - viscosity
KW  - flagella
KW  - host-pathogen interactions
KW  - cell motility
KW  - blood
KW  - parasitic diseases
KW  - trypanosoma brucei gambiense
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-146513
VL  - 12
IS  - 2
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hofmann, Lukas
A1  - Karl, Franziska
A1  - Sommer, Claudia
A1  - Üçeyler, Nurcan
T1  - Affective and cognitive behavior in the alpha-galactosidase A deficient mouse model of Fabry disease
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - Fabry disease is an X-linked inherited lysosomal storage disorder with intracellular accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) due to α-galactosidase A (α-Gal A) deficiency. Fabry patients frequently report of anxiety, depression, and impaired cognitive function. We characterized affective and cognitive phenotype of male mice with α-Gal A deficiency (Fabry KO) and compared results with those of age-matched male wildtype (WT) littermates. Young (3 months) and old (≥ 18 months) mice were tested in the naïve state and after i.pl. injection of complete Freund`s adjuvant (CFA) as an inflammatory pain model. We used the elevated plus maze (EPM), the light-dark box (LDB) and the open field test (OF) to investigate anxiety-like behavior. The forced swim test (FST) and Morris water maze (MWM) were applied to assess depressive-like and learning behavior. The EPM test revealed no intergroup difference for anxiety-like behavior in naïve young and old Fabry KO mice compared to WT littermates, except for longer time spent in open arms of the EPM for young WT mice compared to young Fabry KO mice (p<0.05). After CFA injection, young Fabry KO mice showed increased anxiety-like behavior compared to young WT littermates (p<0.05) and naïve young Fabry KO mice (p<0.05) in the EPM as reflected by shorter time spent in EPM open arms. There were no relevant differences in the LDB and the OF test, except for longer time spent in the center zone of the OF by young WT mice compared to young Fabry KO mice (p<0.05). Complementary to this, depression-like and learning behavior were not different between genotypes and age-groups, except for the expectedly lower memory performance in older age-groups compared to young mice. Our results indicate that genetic influences on affective and cognitive symptoms in FD may be of subordinate relevance, drawing attention to potential influences of environmental and epigenetic factors.
KW  - cognitive impairment
KW  - mouse models
KW  - depression
KW  - swimming
KW  - learning
KW  - Fabry disease
KW  - genetics
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-170745
VL  - 12
IS  - 6
ER  -