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Ca2+ is essential cofactor for trypanocidal activity of normal human serum

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Abstract

Normal human serum has been known to exert a cytotoxic effect on Trypanosoma brucei subspecies for nearly 80 yr1. But in spite of many attempts, no trypanocidal factor was found in human or baboon serum2–6, until Rifkin demonstrated a high density lipoprotein (HDL) in normal human serum with trypanocidal activity7. The conclusion that this was the trypanocidal factor was supported by the report that serum from patients with Tangier disease, characterised by a severe deficiency of HDL, lacked trypanocidal activity7. We report here that Ca2+ is an essential cofactor for the trypanocidal activity of normal human serum, in which α2 macroglobulin (α2) might function as a Ca2+-carrier. We further show that D-glucose, D-fructose and D-mannose can suppress the trypanocidal action of normal human serum, whereas glycerol has the opposite effect.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorium voor Serologie, Institut voor Tropische Geneeskunde, B-2000, Antwerpen

    Jan D'hondt, Nester Van Meirvenne, Luc Moens & Masatoshi Kondo

  2. Departement Celbiologie, Universiteit Antwerpen, B-2610, Wilrijk, Belgium

    Jan D'hondt, Nester Van Meirvenne, Luc Moens & Masatoshi Kondo

Authors
  1. Jan D'hondt
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  2. Nester Van Meirvenne
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  3. Luc Moens
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  4. Masatoshi Kondo
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D'hondt, J., Meirvenne, N., Moens, L. et al. Ca2+ is essential cofactor for trypanocidal activity of normal human serum. Nature 282, 613–615 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282613a0

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