Investigating how clathrin adaptor complex AP-2 participates in Giardia lamblia encystation

FELIZIANI, CONSTANZA; RIVERO MR; QUASSOLLO, GONZALO; ANDREA ROPOLO; MARÍA C TOUZ

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2022 vol. 52 p. 399 - 399

0020-7519

he protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia acquires cholesterol from the environment since it is unable tosynthesise cholesterol de novo and this is vital for trophozoite growth. Conversely, the lack of cholesterolwas described as an essential event to trigger encystation, the differentiation of trophozoites to maturecysts. During the G. lamblia cell cycle, cholesterol is acquired as a free molecule as well as throughreceptor-mediated endocytosis (RME) of lipoproteins. In this work, we describe the involvement ofRME in the cell differentiation process of G. lamblia. We found that a reduction in the expression ofthe medium subunit (Gll2) of the giardial adaptin protein GlAP2 impaired RME, triggering the processof encystation in growing cells. Contrary to expectations, decreasing Gll2 expression produced a cohortof trophozoites that yielded significantly less mature cysts when cells were induced to encyst. Analysis ofthe subcellular localization of Gll2 and the cyst wall protein 1 (CWP1) dur