Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes: Regulation of myo-inositol transport by effectors of protein kinases A and C

Inositol is the precursor for most Trypanosoma cruzi surface molecules, including phosphoinositides, glycosylinositolphospholipids and glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchors. As the parasite is an inositol auxotroph, the inositol transport system might be a potential target for new trypanocide drugs, as some of its properties are different from its mammalian counterpart. Here, we investigated the modulation exerted by effectors of PKA and PKC on this transport system to comply with the parasite physiology. Pre-incubation of the cells with either dibutyryl-cyclic AMP (25 μM) or forskolin (30 μM) decreased the myo-inositol uptake by half, this effect being reversed by KT5720 (PKA inhibitor). Conversely, pre-incubation of the cells with PMA (2.8 μg/ml) or serum (5%) had a ≈50% stimulation in myo-inositol uptake, being this effect reversed by staurosporine (0.5 μM) or sphingosine (10 μM). These results allow us to conclude that the myo-inositol transport system in T. cruzi epimastigotes is inhibited by PKA and stimulated by PKC effectors.