Glycosome dynamics in African trypanosomes are difficult to study by traditional cell biology techniques such as electron and fluorescence microscopy. As a means of observing dynamic organelle behavior, a fluorescent-organelle reporter system has been used in conjunction with flow cytometry to monitor real-time glycosome dynamics in live parasites.
Trypanosoma brucei is a kinetoplastid parasite that causes human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, and a wasting disease, nagana, in cattle1. The parasite alternates between the bloodstream of the mammalian host and the tsetse fly vector. The composition of many cellular organelles changes in response to these different extracellular conditions2-5.
Glycosomes are highly specialized peroxisomes in which many of the enzymes involved in glycolysis are compartmentalized. Glycosome composition changes in a developmental and environmentally regulated manner4-11. Currently, the most common techniques used to study glycosome dynamics are electron and fluorescence microscopy; techniques that are expensive, time and labor intensive, and not easily adapted to high throughput analyses.
To overcome these limitations, a fluorescent-glycosome reporter system in which enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP) is fused to a peroxisome targeting sequence (PTS2), which directs the fusion protein to glycosomes12, has been established. Upon import of the PTS2eYFP fusion protein, glycosomes become fluorescent. Organelle degradation and recycling results in the loss of fluorescence that can be measured by flow cytometry. Large numbers of cells (5,000 cells/sec) can be analyzed in real-time without extensive sample preparation such as fixation and mounting. This method offers a rapid way of detecting changes in organelle composition in response to fluctuating environmental conditions.
Trypanosoma brucei causes African sleeping sickness in humans and a wasting disease, nagana, in cattle. Drugs used in the treatment of these diseases are antiquated and extremely toxic, vaccines are not available, and the potential for the development of drug resistance necessitates the search for new drug targets1.
During its lifecycle, T. brucei, alternates between an insect vector and mammalian host; two hosts that present very different environments in which the parasite must survive. A number of metabolic and morphological changes occur as the parasite is exposed to different environmental conditions. Some of the most dramatic changes are observed in single-membrane-bounded parasite specific microbodies, termed glycosomes13.
Glucose levels are relatively high (~5 mM) in the bloodstream and bloodstream parasites (BSF) generate ATP exclusively through glycolysis while mitochondrial metabolism is repressed14. Unlike other eukaryotes in which glycolysis occurs in the cytoplasm, T. brucei compartmentalizes most of the glycolytic enzymes in glycosomes14,15. The parasites are taken up by the tsetse fly during a bloodmeal and experience a drop in glucose, which falls to undetectable levels within 15 min of being ingested by the fly. The metabolism of insect, procyclic form (PCF), parasites is more flexible and glucose, as well as amino acids such as proline, can be used in the synthesis of ATP16-18. Comparative proteomic studies reveal lifecycle dependent changes in glycosomal and mitochondrial proteins with glycolytic proteins increased in bloodstream parasites and mitochondrial proteins involved in TCA cycle and respiratory chain13,19. While many studies have focused on the differences between BSF and PCF glycosomes, little is known about the changes in PCF glycosomes that occur in response to environmental changes.
In the hindgut of the fly, glucose levels are low with transient increases during a feeding20. In most in vitro studies, PCF parasites are grown in media containing glucose. However, recent studies have demonstrated that PCF metabolism changes significantly in response to glucose availability17. In the absence of glucose, proline uptake and proline dehydrogenase activity increase18. This change in mitochondrial metabolism is likely accompanied by a change in glycosome composition and morphology, however, this has not been directly assessed.
Electron and fluorescence microscopy are common techniques used to study glycosome dynamics in T. brucei2,21-24. These protocols are time and labor intensive, expensive, and difficult to adapt to real-time studies and high throughput protocols. To overcome this limitation, a fluorescent-organelle reporter system used to study organelles in mammalian and yeast systems has been modified for use in T. brucei12.
Fluorescent-organelle reporter systems have been extensively used in higher eukaryotes such as yeast, plant, and mammalian cells25-27. In such systems, a fluorescent protein is fused to an amino acid sequence that targets the protein to specific organelles. The degradation or synthesis of the targeted proteins is measured via fluorescence and changes in organelle composition are reflected by changes in cell fluorescence.
When the open reading frame of enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP) is fused to a type II peroxisomal targeting sequence (PTS2)12, the PTS2eYFP protein is imported into mature, import-competent glycosomes and fluorescence can be monitored via flow cytometry. Variations in glycosome composition are reflected by changes in cellular fluorescence. This system can aid in resolving the mechanisms that regulate environmentally induced changes in glycosome composition.
This manuscript describes the generation of a glycosome reporter system in PCF parasites in conjunction with flow cytometry to monitor real-time glycosome dynamics in live parasites and provides an example of how it has been used to follow changes in glycosome composition in response to different environments. In summary, glycosome composition is influenced by extracellular glucose concentrations and passage of log-phase cultures into fresh media triggers changes in glycosome composition. This system can be modified to study the dynamic behavior of other organelles in trypanosomes and other parasites.
1. General Trypanosome Husbandry
2. Transfection of PCF Parasites with the Fluorescent Reporter Construct
NOTE: To follow glycosome dynamics, a reporter protein containing the peroxisomal targeting sequence (PTS2) of aldolase fused to enhanced yellow fluorescent protein is expressed in the parasites. The sequence encoding the fusion protein is cloned into pXS2bla12, which contains the procyclin promoter and the tubulin intergenic regions, which direct homologous recombination into the genome and the blasticidin resistance gene for selection. Procyclic cell lines harboring the genes encoding the T7 polymerase and tetracycline repressor (PF29-13) are transformed with the targeting construct, pXS2:PTS2eYFP.
3. Making Stabilates
4. Thawing Frozen Stocks
5. Cytometer Setup
6. Cell Counting using the Flow Cytometer
7. Measuring Fluorescence using the Flow Cytometer
8. Dilution Assays
9. Data Analysis
In this system, a glucose-dependent change in glycosome composition was observed. When cells are grown in glucose containing media, two populations are observed; one bright and one dim (Figure 2A). Dim cells harbor immature glycosomes, which have not imported the PTS2eYFP while bright cells harbor a mixture of mature and immature glycosomes12. When glucose is present in the media, mislocalization of glycosome proteins is lethal15,28 and glycosome protein expression is likely coupled closely with import. This tight regulation is responsible for the appearance of dim cells in which glycosome protein expression is suppressed when the cells lack sufficient import capability. Once the glycosome import machinery is fully assembled and functional, the cells express glycosome proteins, which are then imported into glycosomes, yielding fluorescent cells. In glucose-deplete media, the mislocalization of glycosome proteins is tolerated15, and the bimodal population distribution is replaced by a single peak with a broader range of fluorescence (Figure 2B).
This system has been used to identify conditions that trigger changes in glycosome composition. When high density cultures containing ~10% dim cells (Figure 3A) are passed into fresh media, there is a transient increase in the percentage of dim cells (Figure 3B). By 24 hr. the original population distribution is reestablished (Figure 3C).
SDM79 Solids | Weight (g/l) |
Graces insect cell media powder | 2 |
Glucose | 1 |
HEPES | 8 |
MOPS | 5 |
NaHCO3 | 2 |
Sodium pyruvate | 0.1 |
L-Alanine | 0.2 |
L-Arginine | 0.1 |
L-Glutamine | 0.3 |
L-Methonine | 0.07 |
L-Phenylalanine | 0.08 |
L-Proline | 0.6 |
L-Serine | 0.06 |
L-Taurine | 0.16 |
L-Threonine | 0.35 |
L-Tyrosine | 0.1 |
Adenosine | 0.01 |
Guanosine | 0.01 |
Glucosamine HCl | 0.05 |
Folic acid | 0.004 |
r-Aminobenzoic acid | 0.002 |
Biotin | 0.0002 |
Table 1. SDM79 solid components.Solid media components and amount (g/l) are provided.
SDM79 | |
MEM with glutamine | 600 ml |
Pen/Strep | 10 ml |
BME vitamin solution | 10 ml |
MEM amino acids solution | 8 ml |
MEM non essential amino acid solution | 6 ml |
Hemin | 3.75 |
Water | 162.25 ml |
Table 2.SDM79 liquid components.Volumes ml are given.
Cytomix | For 20 ml |
120 mM KCl | 1.4 ml (1 M) |
0.15 mM CaCl2 | 3 ml (1 M) |
10 mM K2HPO4 | 400 ml (0.5 M) |
25 mM HEPES | 500 ml (1 M) |
2 mM EDTA | 80 ml (0.5 M) |
5 mM MgCl2 | 100 ml (1 M) |
Water | 16.52 |
Table 3. Cytomix recipe.
Figure 1. Fluorescent glycosome reporter system. A) PTS2eYFP expression construct integration. PCF trypanosomes were transformed with the pXS2PTS2eYFP plasmid linearized with the restriction enzyme MluI. This construct integrates via homologous recombination into the tubulin locus (Tub) and PARP sequences (PARP) includes the promoter that drives the constitutive expression of PTS2eYFP and the sequences required for RNA processing. B) PTS2eYFP import. PTS2eYFP is synthesized in the cytoplasm where it binds the soluble receptor, PEX7, which delivers the reporter protein to the glycosomes. Once delivered to the glycosome membrane, the protein is imported. Mature organelles containing import machinery import PTS2eYFP and fluorescence while those that do not contain functional import machinery remain dim.
Figure 2. Glucose-dependent glycosome composition. PCF cells were grown in SDM79 (+Glc) or SDM80 (-Glc) and analyzed by flow cytometry. Histograms of 10,000 events. A) Analysis of cells grown in SDM79 consistently reveals two peaks. Fluorescent cells harbor a mixture of mature and immature organelles with cells of higher fluorescence intensities having more mature glycosomes. In SDM79, mislocalization of glycosome proteins is lethal and glycosome protein expression and import must be tightly controlled. This is reflected in the absence of cells with intermediate fluorescence intensities. B) In SDM80, the mislocalization of glycosome proteins is tolerated, the bimodal population distribution is lost, and cells of intermediate fluorescence are observed.
Figure 3. Glycosome remodeling. Remodeling of glycosomes is triggered by passage into fresh media. A) Histogram of 10,000 events in the starting culture (~4 x 106/ml). B) 3 hr after dilution into fresh SDM79 there is an increase in the proportion of dim cells with immature glycosomes falling within the left gate C) Histogram of the diluted culture after 24 hr. After 24 hr, the population distribution has returned to normal, as the immature glycosomes now contain the peroxisome proteins necessary to import the fluorescent protein.
Glycosomes are essential, dynamic, parasite-specific organelles. The processes that regulate the biogenesis, maintenance, proliferation and remodeling of these organelles likely include drug targets that could be exploited for therapeutic purposes. Despite the potentially high abundance of such drug targets, the field of glycosome biogenesis has lagged behind the study of similar processes in other organisms, predominately due to the lack of a tractable, high-throughput system by which to monitor rapid, dynamic, organelle responses in live cells.
Fluorescent-organelle reporter systems have been used to study organelle dynamics in higher eukaryotes such as yeast, plants, fungi and mammals23-25. We have generated a transgenic strain of PCF parasites that express PTS2eYFP that is targeted to mature glycosomes, yielding fluorescent organelles. Changes in glycosome composition can be monitored via following cellular fluorescence. Using this system, we have found that environmental conditions, notably glucose, regulate glycosome composition12.
In contrast to microscopy methods often used to study organelle dynamics in kinetoplastid parasites, this reporter system offers a method by which to rapidly screen compounds and conditions that influence overall glycosome dynamics. However, the changes in fluorescence reflect changes in overall organelle compositions. Further biochemical and microscopic experiments are required to define the specific molecular differences between cell populations exhibiting different fluorescence intensities.
We have identified a number of critical steps in the remodeling assays. Interestingly, we have found that as the cells are cultured for longer periods (more than two passes), their behavior in response to environmental changes is unpredictable. After prolonged culturing, cells passed from high densities into fresh media, exhibit a temporary increase in the dim population, indicating that they are still able to remodel glycosomes, but die after 24 hr. We have also encountered situations where no remodeling is observed. The reason for this behavior is unclear but we have found that when cells are handled as described here (limiting the number of cell passages to two and maintaining cultures below 1 x 107/ml), glycosome remodeling is reproducible. When cells are no longer responsive to environmental conditions, retransforming cells with the reporter-construct plasmid usually remedies this situation.
While this system has been used to study glycosome behavior in African trypanosomes, it can also be adopted to the study of organelles in other parasites by fusing fluorescent proteins to amino acid sequences that direct protein localization to other cellular compartments.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This work was funded by the Creative Inquiry Program for Undergraduate Research and the Calhoun Honors College at Clemson University.
Adenosine | Avocado Research Chemicals Ltd | A10781 | SDM79 Ingredient |
L-Alanine | Avocado Research Chemicals Ltd | A15804 | SDM79 Ingredient |
L-arginine | CalBiochem | 1820 | SDM79 Ingredient |
p-aminobenzoic acid | ICN Biomedicals | 102569 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Basal Medium Eagle Vitamin Solution (100X) | Sigma | B6891 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Biotin | Fisher | BP232-1 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Calcium Chloride | VWR | BDH0224 | Cytomix |
EDTA | Fisher | S311-100 | Cytomix ingredient |
EZNA Gel Extraction kit | Omega Biotek | D2500-01 | DNA purifiation |
Research grade Serum | Fisher | 03-600-511 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Folic acid | ICN Biomedicals | 101725 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Glucosamine HCl | ICN Biomedicals | 194671 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Glucose | GIBCO | 15023-021 | SDM79 Ingredient |
L-glutamine | CalBiochem | 3520 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Glycerol | Acros Organics | Ac15892-0010 | Freezing media |
Graces insect cell media powder | GIBCO | 11300-043 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Hemin | MP Biomedicals | 194025 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Guanosine | Avocado Research Chemicals Ltd | A11328 | SDM79 Ingredient |
HEPES | MP Biomedicals | 194025 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Magnesium Chloride | Fisher | BP214-500 | Cytomix ingredient |
L-methionine | Fisher | BP388-100 | SDM79 Ingredient |
MEM Amino Acids (50X) | Cellgro | 25-030-CI | SDM79 Ingredient |
NEAA Mixture (100X) | Lonza | 13-114E | SDM79 Ingredient |
Minimal Essential Medium (1X) with L-glutamine | Cellgro | 10-010-CM | SDM79 Ingredient |
MOPS | Fisher | BP308-500 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Sodium Biocarbonate | Fisher | S233-500 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Penicillin-Streptomycin Solution | Cellgro | 30-002-CI | SDM79 Ingredient |
L-phenylalanine | ICN Biomedicals | 102623 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Potassium Chloride | Fisher | P217-500 | Cytomix ingredient |
Potassium Phosphate Dibasic Anhydrous | Fisheer | P290-212 | Cytomix ingredient |
L-proline | Fisher | BP392-100 | SDM79 Ingredient |
L-serine | Acros Organics | 56-45-1 | SDM79 Ingredient |
Pyruvic acid, sodium salt | Acros Organics | 113-24-6 | SDM79 Ingredient |
L-taurine | TCI America | A0295 | SDM79 Ingredient |
L-threonine | Acros Organics | 72-19-5 | SDM79 Ingredient |
L-tyrosine | ICN Biomedicals | 103183 | SDM79 Ingredient |
E.Z.N.A.Cycle Pure kit | Omega Biotek | D6492-02 | DNA purification |
Binding buffer | Omega Biotek | PDR041 | DNA purification |
SPW wash buffer | Omega Biotek | PDR045 | DNA purification |
Gene Pulser Xcell | Biorad | 165-2660 | Trypanosome transformation |
4 mm electroporation cuvettes | VWR | Trypanosome transformation |