• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제41권4호
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• pp.181-188
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• 2003

A new species of Acanthamoeba was isolated from a freshwater fish in Korea and tentatively named Acanthamoeba sp. YM-4 (Korean isolate YM-4). The trophozoites were $11.0-23.0{\;}{\mu\textrm{m}}$ in length and had hyaline filamentous projections. Cysts were similar to those of A. culbertsoni and A. royreba, which were previously designated as Acanthamoeba group III. Acanthamoeba YM-4 can survive at $40^{\circ}C$, and its generation time was 19.6 hr, which was longer than that of A. culbertsoni. In terms of the in vitro cytotoxicity of lysates, Acanthamoeba YM-4 was weaker than A. culbertsoni, but stronger than A. polyphaga. On the basis of the mortality of experimentally infected mice, Acanthamoeba YM-4 was found to be highly virulent. The isoenzymes profile of Acanthamoeba YM-4 was similar to that of A. royreba. An anti-Acanthamoeba YM-4 monoclonal antibody, McAY7, was found to react only with Acanthamoeba YM-4, and not with A. culbertsoni. Random amplified polymorphic DNA marker analysis and RFLP analysis of mitochondrial DNA and of 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA, placed Acanthamoeba YM-4 in a separate cluster on the basis of phylogenetic distances. Thus the Acanthamoeba Korean isolate YM-4 was identified as a new species, and assigned as Acanthamoeba sohi.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.95-106
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• 1988

아메바의 cytolytic process가 주로 가수분해 효소 환성과 관계 깊다는 연구들이 70년대 후반부터 병원성 Entamoeba sp.와 Naegleria sp.에서 보고되었지만 Acanthamoeba sp.에서는 가수분해 효소 환성에 관한 연구는 찾아볼 수 없다. 본 연구에서는 병원성이 없는 것으로 알려진 Acanthamoeba royreba를 대조로 하여 병원성이 있는 A. culbertsonl이 가수분해 효소 활성도를 측정하고 이들을 비교하고자 하였다. A. culbertsoni를 마우스에 감염시켰더니 15일내에 마우스 모두가 사망하였으며, 평균 생존기간은 8.5일이었고, 아베바성 수막뇌염으로 사망했음을 알 수 있었다. 반면에 A. royreba를 감염시킨 마우스에서는 수막뇌염이 발생되지 않았다. CGV배지에서 두 종(種) 아메바를 배양하여 아메바 추출물 및 배양액에서 가수분해 효소의 환성을 측정한 결과 A. rcyreba에 비해 A. culbertsoni 세포의 추출물 및 배양액에서 현저히 활성도가 높은 가수분해 효소는 acid phosphatase, p-N-acetyl galactosaminidase, β-N-acetyl glucosaminidase, α-mannosidase, neutral proteinase, acid proteinase였다. 표적 세포인 CHO 세포에 혼합한 A. culbertsoni는 대조군에 비해 강한 세포독성을 나타내었고 CHO 세포와의 혼합후 48시간 후 80%, 72시간후 95% 이상의 CHO 세포가 사멸하는 것을 알 수 있었다. 반면에 A. royreba를 혼합하였을 때는 별다른 세포독성을 나타나지 않았다. CHO 세포에 혼합한 A. tulbgrtsoni이 가수분해 효소 활성도를 경과 시간별로 측정하였던 바 CGV 배지에서 배 양시간이 지남에 따라 아메바내보다 그 배양액에서 더 높은 효소 활성도를 나타내었던 acid phosphatase, β-N·acetyl galactosaminidase, β-N·acetyl glucosaminidase, α-mannosidase, acid proteinase는 혼합 120시간 동안 아메바내에서 더 높은 효소 활성도를 나타내었으며, neutral proteinase의 활성도는 경과시간이 지남에 따라 아메바내에서는 일정하였지만 그 배양액인 EBSS용액내에서는 점점 높아짐을 알 수 있었다. 이상의 성적으로 보아 마우스에서 수막뇌염을 일으키는 A. cuzbertsoni는 비 병원성인 A. reyreba와 비교할 때 여러 종류 가수분해 효소들의 활성도에 현저한 차이를 나타내고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 또한 표적세포인 CHO세포에 대한 A. cuzbertsoni의 세포독성은 강함을 알 수 있었고, 이 때 몇 종류 가수분해 효소들의 환성도도 높게 나타났으며, 이러한 소견이 A. culbertsoni의 병원성과 관련이 있을 것으로 추측되었다.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.93-119
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• 2004

Acanthamoeba and Naegleria are widely distributed in fresh water, soil and dust throughout the world, and cause meningoencephalitis or keratoconjunctivitis in humans and other mammals. Korean isolates, namely, Naegleria sp. YM-1 and Acanthamoeba sp. YM-2, YM-3, YM-4, YM-5, YM-6 and YM-7, were collected from sewage, water puddles, a storage reservoir, the gills of a fresh water fish, and by corneal washing. These isolates were categorized into three groups based on the mortalities of infected mice namely, highly virulent (YM-4), moderately virulent (YM-2, YM-5 and YM-7) and nonpathogenic (YM-3). In addition, a new species of Acanthamoeba was isolated from a freshwater fish in Korea and tentatively named Korean isolate YM-4. The morphologic characters of its cysts were similar to those of A. culbertsoni and A. royreba, which were previously designated as Acanthamoeba group III. Based on experimentally infected mouse mortality, Acanthamoeba YM-4 was highly virulent. The isoenzymes profile of Acanthamoeba YM-4 was similar to that of A. royreba. Moreover, an anti-Acanthamoeba YM-4 monoclonal anti-body reacted only with Acanthamoeba YM-4, and not with A. culbertsoni. Random amplified polymorphic DNA marker analysis and RFLP analysis of mitochondrial DNA and of a 188 small subunit ribosomal RNA, placed Acanthamoeba YM-4 in a separate cluster based on phylogenic distances. Thus Acanthamoeba YM-4 was identified as a new species, and assigned Acanthamoeba sohi. Up to the year 2002 in Korea, two clinical cases were found to be infected with Acanthamoeba spp. These patients died of meningoencephalitis. In addition, one case of Acanthamoeba pneumonia with an immunodeficient status was reported and Acanthamoeba was detected in several cases of chronic relapsing corneal ulcer, chronic conjunctivitis, and keratitis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.85-92
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• 1999

To determine the pathogenicity of Acanthamoeba spp. isolated in Korea and to develop a isoenzymatic maker, the mortality rate of infected mice, in vitro cytotoxicity against target cells and isoenzyme band pattern were observed. Five isolates of Acanthamoeba spp. (YM-2, YM-3, YM-4, YM-5 and YM-7) were used in this study as well as three reference Acanthamoeba spp. (A. culbertsoni, A. hatchetti, and A. royreba). According to the mortality rate of infected mice, Korean isolated could be categorized into three groups: high virulent (YM-4), low virulent (YM-2, YM-5, YM-7) and the nonpathogenic group (YM-4), In addition, the virulence of Acanthamoeba spp. was enhanced by brain passage in mice. In the cytotoxicity assay against chinese hamster ovary cells, especially, the cytotoxicity of brain-passaged amoebae was relatively higher than the long-term cultivated ones. The zymodeme patterns of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), hexokinase (HK), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and malic enzyme (ME)of Acanthamoeba spp. were different among each isolate, and also between long-term cultrued amoebae and brain passaged ones. In spites of the polymorphic zymodemes, a slow band of G6PD and K, and an intermediate band of MDH were only observed in pathogenic Acanthamoeba spp., which should be used as isoenzymatic makers.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.229-236
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• 1999

In order to refer to the basic information regarding the identification of isolates obtained from a contact lens container in Korea, the isoelectric focusing gel electrophoresis was employed to compare the isoenzyme band patterns among Acanthamoeba spp. including eight isolates and the simple pairwise dissimilarity analysis was carried out. For an alkaline phosphate development, isolate 7 and Acanthamoeba polyphaga showed homologous band patterns, and isolates 1, 2, and 3 showed the same patterns. For lactate dehydrogenase, similar patterns were observed in isolates 2 and 3. Isolates 3 and 5 showed homologous band patterns for malate dehydrogenase and glucose phosphate isomerase. For hexokinase, isolates 4, 7, and A. hatchetti showed the same band patterns. In others, a considerable number of interstrain polymorphisms was observed in nine isoenzyme band patterns. In Acanthamoeba group II, genetic distances among isolates 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ranged from 0.104 to 0.200. In comparison to A. castellanii, A. hatchetti, and A. poIyphaga, genetic distances of isolates 7 and 8 were 0.254 and 0.219, respectively. In Acanthamoeba group III, including A. culbertsoni, A. healyi, and A. royreba, isolate 6 had genetic distances which ranged from 0.314 to 0.336. Finally, when comparing to the six reference Acanthamoeba, it was possible to classify isolates 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as genetically close-related species and as independent species group. Furthermore, isolates 6, 7 and 8 were identified as independent species as well.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제37권3호
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• pp.181-188
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• 1999

We investigated the value of mitochondrial small subunit rRNA gene (mt SSU rDNA) PCR-RFLP as a taxonomic tool for Acanthamoeba isolates with close inter-relationships. Twenty-five isolates representing 20 species were included in the analysis. As in nuclear 18s rDNA analysis, two type strains (A. astronyxis and A. tubiashi) of morphological group 1 diverged earliest from the other strains, but the divergence between them was less than in 18s riboprinting. Acanthamoeba griffini of morhological group 2 branched between pathogenic (A. culbertsoni A-1 and A. healyi OC-3A) and nonpathogenic (A.palestinensis Reich, A. pustulosa GE-3a, A. royreba Oak Ridge, and A lenticulata PD2S) strains of morphological group 3. Among the remaining isolates of morphological group 2, the Chang strain had the identical mitochondrial riboprints as the type strain of A. hatchetti. AA2 and AA1, the type strains of A. divionensis and A. paradivionensis, respectively, had the identical riboprints as A. quina Vil3 and A. castellanii Ma. Although the branching orders of A. castellanii Neff, A. polyphaga P23, A. triangularis SH621, and A. lugdunensis L3a were different from those in 18S riboprinting analysis, the results obtained from this study generally coincided well with those from 18S riboprinting. Mitochondrial riboprinting may have an advantage over nuclear 18S rDNA riboprinting beacuse the mt SSU rDNAs do not seem to have introns that are found in the 18S genes of Acanthamoeba and that distort phylogenetic analyses.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제60권2호
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• pp.143-147
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• 2022

Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a rare ocular disease, but it is a painful and sight-threatening infectious disease. Early diagnosis and adequate treatment are necessary to prevent serious complications. While AK is frequently diagnosis via several PCR assays or Acanthamoeba-specific antibodies, a more specific and effective diagnostic method is required. This study described the production of a polyclonal peptide antibody against the periplasmic binding protein (PBP) of A. castellanii and investigated its diagnostic potential. Western blot analysis showed that the PBP antibody specifically reacted with the cell lysates of A. castellanii. However, the PBP antibody did not interact with human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells and the other 3 major causative agents of keratitis. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) results revealed the specific detection of A. castellanii trophozoites and cysts by PBP antibodies when A. castellanii were co-cultured with HCE cells. PBP antibody specificity was further confirmed by co-culture of A. castellanii trophozoites with F. solani, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa via ICC. The PBP antibody specifically reacted with the trophozoites and cysts of A. polyphaga, A. hatchetti, A. culbertsoni, A. royreba, and A. healyi, thus demonstrated its genus-specific nature. These results showed that the PBP polyclonal peptide antibody of A. castellanii could specifically detect several species of Acanthamoeba, contributing to the development of an effective antibody-based AK diagnostics.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.289-298
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• 1992

Acanthnmoeba sp. YM-4의 영양형은 사상의 침상위족을 내어 전형적인 각canthamoeba 속의 특징이 관찰되었으며, 포낭(씨스트)은 외벽이 등근혐이었고 내벽이 단순한 구형이거나 다소 불규칙한 2개의 세포벽을 갖고 있었다. SDS-PAGE 결과, Acanthamoeha sp. Yhf-4는 약 16개의 주요 단백질 분획이 관찰되었는데, 2차원 전기영동 결과와 함께 Acanthamoeba sp. YM-4의 단백질 분획은 A. culbertsoni와 거의 같은 양상이 관찰되었다. Acanthamoeba sp. YM-4로 면역시킨 마우스의 비장세포와 myeloma 세포를 융합한 결과, 항체를 분비하는 17개 clone을 얻을 수 있었다. 생성된 단세포를 항체 중 isotyping을 실시하였는데 실험에 사용된 McAY 6, McAY 7, McAY 8, McAY 13, McAY 16 단세포군은 IgGl 항체를, McAY 10, McAY 11 단세포군은 19M 항체를 분비하였다. 생성된 단세포군 항체는 대부분이 아메바의 세포막에 있는 항원과 반응하였으며, EITB 실험결과, McAY 7 단세포군 항체는 43 kD에서 반응대가 관찰되었고, McAY 10 단세포군 항체는 55 kD과 105 kD에서 반응대가 관찰되었다. ELISA 방법을 이용한 단세포를 항체들과 여러 아메바 간의 교차반응실험 결과, McAY 7 단세포군 항체는 Acanthamoeba sp. YM-4에만 반응하였고, McAY 6과 McAY 10은 A. culbertsoni와도 반응하였다. 또한 McAY 11은 모든 아매바와 교차반응을 보였다.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.259-266
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• 1996

형태학적 제3군 가시아메바의 taxonomic validity는 아직 확실하지 않다. 이번 연구에서 제3군에 속하는 6종의 가시 아메바 즉 A. culbertsoni A. healyi A. palestinensis. A. pustulosa, A. royreba 및 A. lenticulata의 type strain들의 동위효소. 미토콘트리아 DNA 및 small subunit(ssu) rDNA의 Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism(RFLP) 양상을 비교하여 이들의 taxonomic validity를 검토하였다. 미토콘드리아 DNA의 RFLP 양상은 분리주간에 서로 심한 차이를 보였다. A. palestinensis와 A. pustulosc는 거의 동일한 rDNA RFLP(추정 염기 치환율 2.6%) 및 동위효소의 양상을 보여 A. palestinensis와 A. pustulosc는 같은 종으로 판단되었다. 그외의 종들은 서로 아주 다양한 rDNA RFLP 및 동위효소의 양상을 나타내어 독립종으로 인정되었다.