Absence of lipophosphoglycan-like glycoconjugates in Entamoeba dispar

Invasive amoebiasis is the result of infection of Entamoeba histolytica. The closely related Entamoeba dispar can colonize the human gut but does not cause invasive disease. In this study, E. dispar was analysed for the presence of the lipophosphoglycan-like (LPG) glycoconjugate known to be present on the cell surface of E. histolytica. E. dispar cells were radio-isotope labelled with [3H]galactose or [3H]inositol. The acidic glycoconjugates were extracted and analysed by hydrophobic chromatography over phenyl–Sepharose and by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. No LPG-like molecules could be identified in E. dispar in contrast to E. histolytica, suggesting that these molecules may be absent in the non-pathogenic species.