ABSTRACT
Trichomonas vaginalis causes trichomoniasis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease worldwide. As an extracellular parasite, adhesion to host cells is essential for the development of infection. During attachment, the parasite changes its tear ovoid shape to a flat ameboid form, expanding the contact surface and migrating through tissues. Here, we have identified a novel structure formed at the posterior pole of adherent parasite strains, resembling the previously described uropod, which appears to play a pivotal role as an anchor during the attachment process. Moreover, our research demonstrates that the overexpression of the tetraspanin T. vaginalis TSP5 protein (TvTSP5), which is localized on the cell surface of the parasite, notably enhances the formation of this posterior anchor structure in adherent strains. Finally, we demonstrate that parasites that overexpress TvTSP5 possess an increased ability to adhere to host cells, enhanced aggregation and reduced migration on agar plates. Overall, these findings unveil novel proteins and structures involved in the intricate mechanisms of T. vaginalis interactions with host cells.
Footnotes
Author contributions
Conceptualization: M.B.P., N.S., A.P.-N., N.d.M.; Methodology: M.B.P., N.S., T.d.S.M., A.M.-M., T.A.-L., A.P.-N.; Formal analysis: M.B.P., N.S., T.d.S.M., A.P.-N., N.d.M.; Investigation: M.B.P., N.S., T.d.S.M., A.M.-M., T.A.-L., A.P.-N., N.d.M.; Writing - original draft: M.B.P., N.d.M.; Writing - review & editing: N.S., A.P.-N.; Visualization: M.B.P., T.d.S.M., A.M.-M., T.A.-L., A.P.-N.; Supervision: A.P.-N., N.d.M.; Funding acquisition: N.d.M., A.P.-N.
Funding
This research was supported with grants from the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT): BID PICT-2019-01671 (to N.d.M.), PROEP-IAM IAM-005-FIO-22-2-13 (A.P.-N.), an International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) Wood-Whelan Research Fellowship (to M.B.P.) and a Company of Biologists Travelling Fellowship (to M.B.P.). N.d.M. is a researcher from the National Council of Research (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; CONICET) and Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM). N.S. and M.B.P. are PhD fellow from CONICET. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Data availability
All relevant data can be found within the article and its supplementary information.
Special Issue
This article is part of the Special Issue ‘Imaging Cell Architecture and Dynamics’, guest edited by Lucy Collinson and Guillaume Jacquemet. See related articles at https://journals.biologists.com/jcs/issue/137/20.