Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Cav2.2

Title: Generation of an aquaglyceroporin AQP1 null mutant in Leishmania major.

Authors: Marie Plourde, Jean-Michel Ubeda, Goutam Mandal, Rubens Lima do Monte-Neto, Rita Mukhopadhyay, Marc Ouellette

Journal, date & volume: Mol. Biochem. Parasitol., 2015 Jun , 201, 108-11

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26222914

Abstract
The Leishmania aquaglyceroporin AQP1 plays an important physiological role in water and uncharged polar solutes transport, volume regulation, osmotaxis, and is a key determinant of antimony resistance. By targeted gene disruption, we generated a Leishmania major promastigote AQP1 null mutant. This required several attempts but a chromosomal null AQP1 mutant was obtained by loss of heterozygosity in the presence of a rescue plasmid encoding AQP1. Growth in the absence of selection led to the loss of the rescuing plasmid, indicating that AQP1 is not essential for Leishmania viability. The AQP1-null mutant was resistant to antimonyl tartrate (SbIII) and arsenite (AsIII) due to a decrease import of these metalloids. It also exhibited alterations in its osmoregulation abilities compared with wild-type cells. This is the first report of the generation of a genetic AQP1 null mutant in Leishmania parasite, confirming its physiological function and role in resistance to antimonials, the therapeutic mainstay against Leishmania.