The 3A1-La monoclonal antibody reveals key features of Leishmania (L) amazonensis metacyclic promastigotes and inhibits procyclics attachment to the sand fly midgut

In this work, we characterise metacyclic promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis, the causative agent of cutaneous and diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis in the New World. To purify metacyclics from stationary culture by negative selection, we used the monoclonal antibody 3A1-La produced against procyclic promastigotes. The purified forms named 3A1-La(−) promastigotes, present key metacyclic characteristics: slender cell body and long flagella, ultrastructural features, resistance to complement lysis, high infectivity for macrophages and mice and reduced capacity for binding to the sand fly midgut. Moreover, the epitope recognised by 3A1-La is important for the promastigote attachment to the insect vector midgut epithelium. These results further characterise 3A1-La(−) promastigotes as metacyclic forms of L. amazonensis.