Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, binds to diverse extracellular matrix proteins. Such an ability prevails in the parasite forms that circulate in the bloodstream and contributes to host cell invasion. Whether this also applies to the insect-stage metacyclic trypomastigotes, the developmental forms that initiate infection in the mammalian host, is not clear. Using T. cruzi CL stra...

It was shown in this work that the infectivity of metacyclic forms of Trypanosoma cruzi was affected upon interaction with the monoclonal antibody (10D8), which reacts with a carbohydrate epitope of the 35- and 50-kilodalton (kDa) surface glycoconjugates. The invasion of Vero cells by metacyclic forms of strains Tulahuen and G was inhibited 50 to 67% in the presence of 10D8 (10 micrograms/ml), ...

We approach the hidden subgroup problem by performing the so-called pretty good measurement on hidden subgroup states. For various groups that can be expressed as the semidirect product of an abelian group and a cyclic group, we show that the pretty good measurement is optimal and that its probability of success and unitary implementation are closely related to an average-case algebraic problem...

let $h$, $l$ and $x$ be subgroups of a finite group$g$. then $h$ is said to be $x$-permutable with $l$ if for some$xin x$ we have $al^{x}=l^{x}a$. we say that $h$ is emph{$x$-quasipermutable } (emph{$x_{s}$-quasipermutable}, respectively) in $g$ provided $g$ has a subgroup$b$ such that $g=n_{g}(h)b$ and $h$ $x$-permutes with $b$ and with all subgroups (with all sylowsubgroups, respectively) $v$...

By a quasi-permutation matrix we mean a square matrix over the complex field C with non-negative integral trace. Thus, every permutation matrix over C is a quasipermutation matrix. For a given finite group G, let p(G) denote the minimal degree of a faithful permutation representation of G (or of a faithful representation of G by permutation matrices), let q(G) denote the minimal degree of a fa...

Oral infection by Trypanosoma cruzi has been the primary cause of recent outbreaks of acute Chagas' diseases. This route of infection may involve selective binding of the metacyclic trypomastigote surface molecule gp82 to gastric mucin as a first step towards invasion of the gastric mucosal epithelium and subsequent systemic infection. Here we addressed that question by performing in vitro and ...

The formation of metacyclic trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi in cultures initiated by freshly isolated bloodstream trypomastigotes was studied using three strains of parasites (Peru, CL, and Y) and two different media (L-15 and Grace's medium). Serum (10% newborn calf serum) and various sugars were required for in vitro development of metacyclic forms. This development was best at an alkali...

The effect of glutamine on the number of metacyclic trypanosomes produced in insect form cultures of Trypanosoma congolense TREU 1457 was investigated. When cultured in the absence of glutamine, trypanosomes did not develop to metacyclic forms. While metacyclics were produced in all cultures maintained with glutamine in the concentration range 2-20 mM, optimum numbers were obtained between 4 an...