[33] Analysis for adhesins and specific cytoadhesion of Trichomonas vaginalis

Trichomonas vaginalis is a protozoan parasite that is one of the most common clinically recognized sexually transmitted infectious agents. As with other mucosal pathogens, trichomonads must be capable of surmounting the mucous barrier and must cytoadhere to the squamous epithelial cells of the vaginal epithelium to overcome being expelled by the continuous fluid flow of the vagina. The chapter describes the assays developed and employed to establish the highly specific nature of T. vaginalis cytoadhesion and the identity of trichomonad surface proteins involved in this property. Prerequisite to the identification of important virulence factors, like adhesins, some degree of understanding is needed of the host factors of the vagina (or at the site of infection of a given microbial pathogen) that may provide environmental signals that regulate expression of the property being examined, in this case cytoadhesion and synthesis of adhesions. The cytoadhesion findings reinforce the idea that trichomonad surface proteins are mediators of specific host-cell attachment. The chapter also describes the ligand assay that has been developed by which specific microbial surface proteins involved in cytoadhesion are identified.