Efeitos de anticorpos ANTI-NTPDases na proliferação de células imunes e suas implicações na esquistossomose mansoni

Abstract

Extracellular nucleotides and nucleosides may act as signaling molecules that control inflammation and immune response. In this context, NTPDases represent an important family of enzymes capable of hydrolyzing di- and tri-phosphate nucleosides which regulate purinergic signaling in most living beings. The homology between different enzymes from the NTPDase family supports new investigations about the interactions of antibodies directed against isoforms of these enzymes in parasites and the connection to their isoforms expressed in mammalian hosts. The NTPDase isoforms in Schistosoma mansoni, called SmATPDases 1 and 2 are antigenic and display a significant homology with the NTPDases isoforms found in mammalian cells. The aim of this work was to verify if anti-SmATPDase 1 antibodies from serum of animals infected with S. mansoni show cross-immunoreactivity with the NTPDase 1 isoform from immune system cells of mammalians. This cross-immunoreactivity could affect cell proliferation and cell signalization, justifying a direct modulation of the purinergic signaling developed during the progression of schistosomiasis. Through western blotting technique we verified that antibodies against SmATPDase isoforms from serum of infected animals were able to recognize NTPDase isoform 1 from homogenized splenocytes and macrophages, resulting in clear display of bands with molecular weights of approximately 53 and 58 kDa. Additionally, NTPDase 1 was identified and localized in these cells by immunofluorescence. The reactivity between preparations of cells and anti-IgG antibodies present in the serum of animals with schistosomiasis (dilutions 1:50 and 1: 100) also suggested the existence of homologous proteins between the parasite and the immune cells that could be related to NTPDases. Antibodies were also able to reduce activity enzyme in preparations of macrophages (22%) and splenocytes (58%). Anti-CD39 promoted decrease in this activity by 40% and 83%, respectively. In cell proliferation assays, there was a reduction in the proliferation of macrophages in 24 h (14%), 48 h (14%) and 72 h (11%) in cells incubated with pool infected animal sera and with anti-CD39 29%, 12% and 90%, respectively. When the splenocytes culture was incubated with anti-CD39, proliferative activity increased in 48h (45%) and 72 h (70%) and in cells maintained with immune serum of the infected animal, it observed no significant difference. The lymphocyte proliferation assay by flow cytometry there is a significant increase in the number of T lymphocytes incubated with immune serum (36%) and anti-CD39 (> 100%). In turn, there was a 44% decrease in proliferation of B cells previously treated with infected animal serum and 34% in the group treated with anti-CD39. These results suggest that inhibition of NTPDase 1 of immune cells by antibodies produced against the isoforms of the S. mansoni could be responsible for modulation of the immune response during the schistosomiasis, conducting to a Th2 response. However, more tests should be carried out to confirm this hypothesis. The NTPDases inhibition may contribute for studies of the mechanisms involved in various disorders related to defects in purinergic signaling.