BACKGROUND: @entity1527 is a parasitic protist that causes @entity1526 , which is prevalent in Latin America. Because of the unavailability of an effective drug or vaccine, and because about 8 million @entity1 are infected with the parasite worldwide, the development of novel drugs demands urgent attention. @entity1527 infects a wide variety of @entity1 nucleated cells, with a preference for myocardial cells. Non-dividing trypomastigotes in the bloodstream infect host cells where they are transformed into replication-capable amastigotes. The amastigotes revert to trypomastigotes (trypomastigogenesis) before being shed out of the host cells. Although trypomastigote transformation is an essential process for the parasite, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process have not yet been clarified, mainly because of the lack of an assay system to induce trypomastigogenesis in vitro. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Cultivation of amastigotes in a transformation medium composed of 80% RPMI-1640 and 20% Grace's Insect Medium mediated their transformation into trypomastigotes. Grace's Insect Medium alone also induced trypomastigogenesis. Furthermore, trypomastigogenesis was induced more efficiently in the presence of fetal bovine serum. Trypomastigotes derived from in vitro trypomastigogenesis were able to infect @entity1 host cells as efficiently as tissue-culture-derived trypomastigotes (TCT) and expressed a marker protein for TCT. Using this assay system, we demonstrated that @entity1527 @entity671 receptor (TcIP3R)-an intracellular @entity141 channel and a key molecule involved in @entity141 signaling in the parasite-is important for the transformation process. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings provide a new tool to identify the molecular mechanisms of the amastigote-to-trypomastigote transformation, leading to a new strategy for drug development against @entity1526 .

A Novel Method for Inducing Amastigote-To-Trypomastigote Transformation In Vitro in @entity1527 Reveals the Importance of XXXX Receptor.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['mammalian', 'people'] @entity671 :: ('MESH:D015544', 'Chemical') :: ['inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate'] @entity1527 :: ('5693', 'Species') :: ['Trypanosoma cruzi', 'T. cruzi'] @entity1526 :: ('MESH:D014355', 'Disease') :: ['Chagas disease'] @entity141 :: ('CHEBI:29108', 'Chemical') :: ['Ca2+']
@entity671 :: (MESH:D015544,Chemical) :: ['Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate']
