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. 1987 Sep;55(9):1957–1962. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.9.1957-1962.1987

Trichomonas vaginalis NYH286 phenotypic variation may be coordinated for a repertoire of trichomonad surface immunogens.

J F Alderete
PMCID: PMC260640  PMID: 3497876

Abstract

Trichomonas vaginalis isolate NYH286 was fractionated with immunoglobulin G of sera from patients with trichomoniasis. Subpopulations of trichomonads with phenotypes of either patient serum-immunoglobulin G reactive (PS+) or nonreactive (PS-) were obtained. Flow cytofluorometry of PS+ and PS- subpopulations with a monoclonal antibody called C20A3 which reacts with a high-molecular-weight immunogen of T. vaginalis gave corresponding fluorescent (positive) and nonfluorescent (negative) phenotypes. No relationship was seen between PS+ and PS- phenotypes and binding of soybean agglutinin, wheat germ agglutinin, and concanavalin A, showing that PS- organisms still possessed carbohydrate moieties on their surfaces based on lectin binding. Phenotypic variation among the PS+ and PS- trichomonads was observed during in vitro growth. A positive-to-negative phenotype shift was also recorded for parasites obtained from lesions of mice subcutaneously infected with PS+ trichomonads. The involvement of surface proteins in the differential PS+ and PS- reactions was supported by soluble antigen and whole cell radioimmunoprecipitation assays. Finally, enhanced parasitism and killing of HeLa cells in monolayer cultures were observed for PS- subpopulations as compared with PS+ counterparts. The data support the idea that phenotypic variation for T. vaginalis may be coordinated for a repertoire of trichomonad immunogens and that such membrane dynamics influence expression of virulence determinants for these sexually transmitted disease agents.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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