Inhibitory effect of deferoxamine on Paracoccidioides brasiliensis survival in human monocytes: reversal by holotransferrin not by apotransferrin

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 263 - 266
• Main Authors: Dias-Melicio, Luciane Alarcão, Calvi, Sueli Aparecida, Peraçoli, Maria Terezinha Serrão, Soares, Angela Maria Victoriano de Campos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo 01-09-2005; Instituto de Medicina Tropical
• Subjects: Apoproteins - pharmacology; Deferoxamine - antagonists & inhibitors; Deferoxamine - pharmacology; Humans; Iron - physiology; Monocytes - microbiology; Paracoccidioides - drug effects; Paracoccidioides - physiology; Siderophores - antagonists & inhibitors; Siderophores - pharmacology; Transferrin - pharmacology; TROPICAL MEDICINE; Monocytes; Iron; Paracoccidioides brasiliensis; Deferoxamine
• ISSN: 0036-4665; 1678-9946; 0036-4665; 1678-9946
• DOI: 10.1590/S0036-46652005000500005

The mechanisms used by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis to survive into phagocytic cells are not clear. Cellular iron metabolism is of critical importance to the growth of several intracellular pathogens whose capacity to multiply in mononuclear phagocytes is dependent on the availability of intracellular iron. Thus, the objective of this paper was to investigate the role of intracellular iron in regulating the capacity of P. brasiliensis yeast cells to survive within human monocytes. Treatment of monocytes with deferoxamine, an iron chelator, suppressed the survival of yeasts in a concentration-dependent manner. The effect of deferoxamine was reversed by iron-saturated transferrin (holotransferrin) but not by nonsaturated transferrin (apotransferrin). These results strongly suggest that P. brasiliensis survival in human monocytes is iron dependent.