Chagas' disease parasite-derived neurotrophic factor activates cholinergic gene expression in neuronal PC12 cells.

A parasite-derived neurotrophic factor (PDNF) produced by the Chagas' disease parasite Trypanosoma cruzi binds nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor TrkA, increasing receptor autophosphorylation, and activating phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK/Erk) pathways, and transcription factor CREB. The end-result is enhanced survival and neuritogenesis of various types of neurons. PDNF also enhances the expression and activity of tyrosine hydroxylase, a rate limiting enzyme in the synthesis of dopamine and other catecholamine neurotransmitters. It remains unknown, however, if PDNF alters expression and metabolism of acetylcholine (ACh), a neurotransmitter thought to play a role in Chagas' disease progression. Here we demonstrate that PDNF stimulates mRNA and protein expression of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), which are critical for synthesis and storage of ACh. Stimulation requires functional TrkA because it did not occur in cell mutants that lack the receptor and in TrkA-expressing wild-type cells treated with K252a, an inhibitor of TrkA kinase activity. It also requires TrkA-dependent PI3K and MAPK/Erk signaling pathways because PDNF stimulation of cholinergic transcripts is abolished by specific pharmacological inhibitors. Furthermore, the cholinergic actions of PDNF were reproduced by PDNF-expressing extracellular T. cruzi trypomastigotes at the start of host cell invasion. In contrast, host cells bearing intracellular T. cruzi showed decreased, rather than increased, cholinergic gene expression. These results suggest that T. cruzi invasion of the nervous system alters cholinergic gene expression and that could play a role in neuropathology, and/or lack thereof, in Chagas' disease patients.