Continuous Real-Time Motility Analysis of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> Reveals Sustained Movement in Absence of Nutrients
<i>Acanthamoeba</i> keratitis is a serious ocular infection which is challenging to treat and can lead to blindness. While this pathogen is ubiquitous and can contaminate contact lenses after contact with water, its habits remain elusive. Understanding this organism’s natural behavior wi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-08-01
|
| Series: | Pathogens |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/10/8/995 |
| _version_ | 1797522478707245056 |
|---|---|
| author | Allison Campolo Valerie Harris Rhonda Walters Elise Miller Brian Patterson Monica Crary |
| author_facet | Allison Campolo Valerie Harris Rhonda Walters Elise Miller Brian Patterson Monica Crary |
| author_sort | Allison Campolo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Acanthamoeba</i> keratitis is a serious ocular infection which is challenging to treat and can lead to blindness. While this pathogen is ubiquitous and can contaminate contact lenses after contact with water, its habits remain elusive. Understanding this organism’s natural behavior will better inform us on how <i>Acanthamoeba</i> colonize contact lens care systems. <i>Acanthamoeba</i> trophozoites were allowed to adhere to either a glass coverslip or non-nutrient agar (NNA) within a flow cell with nutrients (<i>Escherichia coli</i> or an axenic culture medium (AC6)) or without nutrients (Ringer’s solution). Images were taken once every 24 s over 12 h and compiled, and videos were analyzed using ImageJ Trackmate software. <i>Acanthamoeba</i> maintained continuous movement for the entire 12 h period. ATCC 50370 had limited differences between conditions and surfaces throughout the experiment. Nutrient differences had a noticeable impact for ATCC 30461, where <i>E. coli</i> resulted in the highest total distance and speed during the early periods of the experiment but had the lowest total distance and speed by 12 h. The Ringer’s and AC6 conditions were the most similar between strains, while <i>Acanthamoeba</i> in the <i>E. coli</i> and NNA conditions demonstrated significant differences between strains (<i>p</i> < 0.05). These results indicate that quantifiable visual tracking of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> may be a novel and robust method for identifying the movement of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> in relation to contact lens care products. The present study indicates that <i>Acanthamoeba</i> can undertake sustained movement for at least 12 h with and without nutrients, on both rough and smooth surfaces, and that different strains have divergent behavior. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:29:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-24d7e6d0bf024ef9a86980d803d1376d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0817 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:29:57Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pathogens |
| spelling | doaj.art-24d7e6d0bf024ef9a86980d803d1376d2023-11-22T09:09:11ZengMDPI AGPathogens2076-08172021-08-0110899510.3390/pathogens10080995Continuous Real-Time Motility Analysis of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> Reveals Sustained Movement in Absence of NutrientsAllison Campolo0Valerie Harris1Rhonda Walters2Elise Miller3Brian Patterson4Monica Crary5Department of Microbiology, Alcon Research, LLC, Fort Worth, TX 76134, USADepartment of Microbiology, Alcon Research, LLC, Fort Worth, TX 76134, USADepartment of Microbiology, Alcon Research, LLC, Fort Worth, TX 76134, USADepartment of Microbiology, Alcon Research, LLC, Fort Worth, TX 76134, USADepartment of Microbiology, Alcon Research, LLC, Fort Worth, TX 76134, USADepartment of Microbiology, Alcon Research, LLC, Fort Worth, TX 76134, USA<i>Acanthamoeba</i> keratitis is a serious ocular infection which is challenging to treat and can lead to blindness. While this pathogen is ubiquitous and can contaminate contact lenses after contact with water, its habits remain elusive. Understanding this organism’s natural behavior will better inform us on how <i>Acanthamoeba</i> colonize contact lens care systems. <i>Acanthamoeba</i> trophozoites were allowed to adhere to either a glass coverslip or non-nutrient agar (NNA) within a flow cell with nutrients (<i>Escherichia coli</i> or an axenic culture medium (AC6)) or without nutrients (Ringer’s solution). Images were taken once every 24 s over 12 h and compiled, and videos were analyzed using ImageJ Trackmate software. <i>Acanthamoeba</i> maintained continuous movement for the entire 12 h period. ATCC 50370 had limited differences between conditions and surfaces throughout the experiment. Nutrient differences had a noticeable impact for ATCC 30461, where <i>E. coli</i> resulted in the highest total distance and speed during the early periods of the experiment but had the lowest total distance and speed by 12 h. The Ringer’s and AC6 conditions were the most similar between strains, while <i>Acanthamoeba</i> in the <i>E. coli</i> and NNA conditions demonstrated significant differences between strains (<i>p</i> < 0.05). These results indicate that quantifiable visual tracking of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> may be a novel and robust method for identifying the movement of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> in relation to contact lens care products. The present study indicates that <i>Acanthamoeba</i> can undertake sustained movement for at least 12 h with and without nutrients, on both rough and smooth surfaces, and that different strains have divergent behavior.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/10/8/995keratitis<i>Acanthamoeba</i>movementvelocity |
| spellingShingle | Allison Campolo Valerie Harris Rhonda Walters Elise Miller Brian Patterson Monica Crary Continuous Real-Time Motility Analysis of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> Reveals Sustained Movement in Absence of Nutrients Pathogens keratitis <i>Acanthamoeba</i> movement velocity |
| title | Continuous Real-Time Motility Analysis of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> Reveals Sustained Movement in Absence of Nutrients |
| title_full | Continuous Real-Time Motility Analysis of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> Reveals Sustained Movement in Absence of Nutrients |
| title_fullStr | Continuous Real-Time Motility Analysis of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> Reveals Sustained Movement in Absence of Nutrients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Continuous Real-Time Motility Analysis of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> Reveals Sustained Movement in Absence of Nutrients |
| title_short | Continuous Real-Time Motility Analysis of <i>Acanthamoeba</i> Reveals Sustained Movement in Absence of Nutrients |
| title_sort | continuous real time motility analysis of i acanthamoeba i reveals sustained movement in absence of nutrients |
| topic | keratitis <i>Acanthamoeba</i> movement velocity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/10/8/995 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT allisoncampolo continuousrealtimemotilityanalysisofiacanthamoebairevealssustainedmovementinabsenceofnutrients AT valerieharris continuousrealtimemotilityanalysisofiacanthamoebairevealssustainedmovementinabsenceofnutrients AT rhondawalters continuousrealtimemotilityanalysisofiacanthamoebairevealssustainedmovementinabsenceofnutrients AT elisemiller continuousrealtimemotilityanalysisofiacanthamoebairevealssustainedmovementinabsenceofnutrients AT brianpatterson continuousrealtimemotilityanalysisofiacanthamoebairevealssustainedmovementinabsenceofnutrients AT monicacrary continuousrealtimemotilityanalysisofiacanthamoebairevealssustainedmovementinabsenceofnutrients |