Assessment of genetic mutation frequency induced by oxidative stress in Trypanosoma cruzi



Título del documento: Assessment of genetic mutation frequency induced by oxidative stress in Trypanosoma cruzi
Revue: Genetics and molecular biology
Base de datos: PERIÓDICA
Número de sistema: 000418553
ISSN: 1415-4757
Autores: 1
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Instituciones: 1Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Bioquimica e Imunologia, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Brasil
Año:
Periodo: Jun
Volumen: 41
Número: 2
Paginación: 466-474
País: Brasil
Idioma: Inglés
Tipo de documento: Artículo
Enfoque: Experimental
Resumen en inglés Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease, a public health challenge due to its morbidity and mortality rates, which affects around 6-7 million people worldwide. Symptoms, response to chemotherapy, and the course of Chagas disease are greatly influenced by T. cruzi‘s intra-specific variability. Thus, DNA mutations in this parasite possibly play a key role in the wide range of clinical manifestations and in drug sensitivity. Indeed, the environmental conditions of oxidative stress faced by T. cruzi during its life cycle can generate genetic mutations. However, the lack of an established experimental design to assess mutation rates in T. cruzi precludes the study of conditions and mechanisms that potentially produce genomic variability in this parasite. We developed an assay that employs a reporter gene that, once mutated in specific positions, convert G418-sensitive into G418-insenstitive T. cruzi. We were able to determine the frequency of DNA mutations in T. cruzi exposed and non-exposed to oxidative insults assessing the number of colony-forming units in solid selective media after plating a defined number of cells. We verified that T. cruzi‘s spontaneous mutation frequency was comparable to those found in other eukaryotes, and that exposure to hydrogen peroxide promoted a two-fold increase in T. cruzi‘s mutation frequency. We hypothesize that genetic mutations in T. cruzi can arise from oxidative insults faced by this parasite during its life cycle
Disciplinas: Biología,
Química
Palabras clave: Parasitología,
Genética,
Bioquímica,
Trypanosoma cruzi,
ADN,
Frecuencia de mutación,
H2O2,
Estres oxidativo
Keyword: Parasitology,
Genetics,
Biochemistry,
Trypanosoma cruzi,
DNA,
Mutation frequency,
H2O2,
DNA
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