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. 1997 Oct;17(10):5987–5995. doi: 10.1128/mcb.17.10.5987

Leishmania major Hsp100 is required chiefly in the mammalian stage of the parasite.

A Hübel 1, S Krobitsch 1, A Hörauf 1, J Clos 1
PMCID: PMC232447  PMID: 9315657

Abstract

In Leishmania major a 100-kDa heat shock protein, Hsp100, is abundant in the intracellular amastigote stage which persists in the mammalian host. A replacement of both clpB alleles which encode Hsp100 does not affect promastigote viability under standard culture conditions but impairs thermotolerance in vitro. In experimental infections of BALB/c inbred mice, the lack of Hsp100 in the gene replacement mutants results in a markedly delayed lesion development compared with that in infections with wild-type L. major. Overexpression of exogenous clpB gene copies can partly restore virulence to the gene replacement mutants. Genetic-selection experiments also reveal a strong pressure for Hsp100 expression in the mammalian stage. This requirement for Hsp100 was also observed in in vitro infection experiments with mouse peritoneal macrophages. These experiments indicated a role for Hsp100 during the development from the promastigote to the amastigote stage. Our results suggest an important role for this parasite heat shock protein during the initial stages of a mammalian infection.

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Selected References

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