Unlike all other organisms, parasitic protozoa of the family Trypanosomatidae maintain a large cellular pool of proline that, together with the alanine pool, serve as alternative carbon sources as well as reservoirs of organic osmolytes. These reflect adaptation to their insect vectors whose haemolymphs are exceptionally rich in the two amino acids. In the present study we identify and characterize a new neutral amino acid transporter, LdAAP24, that translocates proline and alanine across the Leishmania donovani plasma membrane. This transporter fulfils multiple functions: it is the sole supplier for the intracellular pool of proline and contributes to the alanine pool; it is essential for cell volume regulation after osmotic stress; and it regulates the transport and homoeostasis of glutamate and arginine, none of which are its substrates. Notably, we provide evidence that proline and alanine exhibit different roles in the parasitic response to hypotonic shock; alanine affects swelling, whereas proline influences the rate of volume recovery. On the basis of our data we suggest that LdAAP24 plays a key role in parasite adaptation to its varying environments in host and vector, a phenomenon essential for successful parasitism.
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Research Article|
December 14 2012
A versatile proline/alanine transporter in the unicellular pathogen Leishmania donovani regulates amino acid homoeostasis and osmotic stress responses
Ehud Inbar;
Ehud Inbar
1
*Faculty of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
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Doreen Schlisselberg;
Doreen Schlisselberg
*Faculty of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
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Marianne Suter Grotemeyer;
Marianne Suter Grotemeyer
†Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, 3013 Bern, Switzerland
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Doris Rentsch;
Doris Rentsch
†Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, 3013 Bern, Switzerland
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Dan Zilberstein
Dan Zilberstein
2
*Faculty of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
2To whom correspondence should be addressed (email [email protected]).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 09 2012
Revision Received:
September 20 2012
Accepted:
September 21 2012
Accepted Manuscript online:
September 21 2012
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2013 Biochemical Society
2013
Biochem J (2013) 449 (2): 555–566.
Article history
Received:
August 09 2012
Revision Received:
September 20 2012
Accepted:
September 21 2012
Accepted Manuscript online:
September 21 2012
Citation
Ehud Inbar, Doreen Schlisselberg, Marianne Suter Grotemeyer, Doris Rentsch, Dan Zilberstein; A versatile proline/alanine transporter in the unicellular pathogen Leishmania donovani regulates amino acid homoeostasis and osmotic stress responses. Biochem J 15 January 2013; 449 (2): 555–566. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20121262
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