DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF NOVEL MESSENGER-RNAS IN HEAT-SHOCKED LEISHMANIA CELLS

Parasitic protozoa of the genus Leishmania cause a disfiguring and som etimes lethal disease in humans, called leishmaniasis. Upon entering a human host, Leishmania promastigotes experience a change in temperatu re from ambient to 37 degrees C. This temperature may act as an enviro nmental trigger for a series of events that may be critical for parasi te differentiation and/or survival within the macrophage. By reverse t ranscriptase differential display PCR, three apparently novel polyaden ylated mRNAs have been revealed to be up-regulated in transiently (1 h ) heat-shocked (37 degrees C) cultured L. chagasi cells. These three g enes, hs-1316-A, hs-1316-B and hs-816, are apparently not the classica l heat-shock protein genes normally induced in heat-shocked Leishmania or other cells.