Anti-E. histolytica Monoclonal antibody, Clone 6003

Parasites are biological agents responsible for causing several pathologies in animals and human beings. Because of Farr sanitation, these parasites contaminate the environment and can contaminate water and focal. Vegetables, due to their structure and culturing process, are considered important routes of parasitosis dissemination. This study aims to determine the levels of contamination obtained from the analysis of vegetables sold in open markets, medium-sized commercial establishments and supermarkets from Parnaiba, Piaui. Sixty samples - half of them lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and the others "cheiro-verde", a mix of coriander (Coriadrurn sativurn) and chives (Allium sp.) - from six of the main commercial locations in Parnaiba, Piaui, were analyzed. The samples were processed by the Faust et al. and Hoffman et al. methods. From the samples analyzed, 86.7% of the lettuce and 96.7% of the "cheiro-verde" were contaminated by the parasitic structures. The parasites found in the samples were: rhabditoid larvae of helrninths (rhabditoid larvae, suggesting Strongyloides stereoralis or Ancylostorna sp.), Ancylostorna sp./Strongyloides stercoralis eggs, Entamoeba coli cyst, Toxocara sp. eggs, Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar cyst and Ascaris lumbricoides eggs. This study proved to be effective in detecting parasites in the analyzed samples, because the results obtained determined determine which establishments had samples of contaminated vegetables and which parasites are most frequently found.

Eukaryotic cells are organized into separate membrane-bound compartments that have specialized biochemical signature and function. Maintenance and regulation of distinct identity of each compartment is governed by the uneven distribution and intra-cellular movement of two essential biomolecules, lipids, and proteins. Non-vesicular lipid transport mediated by lipid transfer proteins plays a pivotal role in intra-cellular lipid trafficking and homeostasis whereas vesicular transport plays a central role in protein trafficking. Comparative study of lipid transport machinery in protist helps to better understand the pathogenesis and parasitism, and provides insight into eukaryotic evolution. Amebiasis, which is caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is one of the major enteric infections in humans, resulting in 40-100 thousand deaths annually. This protist has undergone remarkable alterations in the content and function of its sub-cellular compartments as well represented by its unique diversification of mitochondrion-related organelle, mitosome. We conducted domain-based search on AmoebaDB coupled with bioinformatics analyses and identified 22 potential lipid transfer protein homologs in E. histolytica, which are grouped into several sub-classes. Such in silico analyses have demonstrated the existence of well-organized lipid transport machinery in this parasite. We summarized and discussed the conservation and unique features of the whole repertoire of lipid transport proteins in E. histolytica.