Identification and characterisation of molecules involved in the pathogenicity of Entamoeba histolytica

溶组织内阿米巴以其非凡的能力而闻名，它能有效地破坏人体组织，导致溃疡性结肠炎或肠外脓肿等侵袭性疾病。许多分子被认为对阿米巴的致病性很重要。然而，所有这些活动都存在于致病性以及非致病性阿米巴分离株，这些分子的重要性提出了疑问，为E。溶组织病原体我们最近从广泛使用的实验室E.溶组织菌菌株HM-1：IMSS，其毒力始终不同。克隆A在注射到啮齿动物体内时不能诱导肝硬化，而来自克隆B的相对少量的细胞能够引起大的肝硬化。本研究的主要目的是鉴定与大肠杆菌致病性相关的分子。溶组织剂因此，我们选择了一个三方策略，包括：（i）DNA微阵列和蛋白质组分析的两个E。histolytica克隆，（ii）使用转基因阿米巴的候选基因的功能分析，（iii）集中在一个有趣的新家族的基因，包括许多差异表达的候选基因已经确定。使用两种不同的阿米巴克隆以及转基因阿米巴的引入进行的分子和生物化学研究的结合可能允许解开决定E.溶组织病原体

Entamoeba histolytica is known for it´s extraordinary capacity to efficiently destroy human tissues, leading to invasive diseases such as ulcerative colitis or extraintestinal abscesses. Various molecules have been considered important for amoeba pathogenicity. However, all these activities are present in pathogenic as well as in non-pathogenic amoeba isolates, calling into question the importance of these molecules for E. histolytica pathogenicity. We recently identified two syngenic clones (A and B) derived from the widely used laboratory E. histolytica strain HM-1:IMSS, which consistently differ in virulence. Clone A is incapable to induce liver abscesses when injected into rodents, whereas a relatively small number of cells from clone B are able to provoke large abscesses. The major goal of this study is to identify molecules that are responsible for the pathogenicity of E. histolytica. Therefore, a tripartite strategy is chosen that comprises: (i) DNA-microarray and proteome analysis of the two E. histolytica clones, (ii) functional analysis of candidate genes using transgenic amoebae, (iii) focussing on an interesting new family of genes that include numerous differentially expressed candidate genes already identified. The combination of molecular and biochemical studies using the two different amoeba clones as well as the introduction of transgenic amoebae may allow to unravel the molecular basis that determines E. histolytica pathogenicity.