RESEARCH ARTICLE Trypanosoma cruzi Epimastigotes Are Able to Manage Internal Cholesterol Levels under Nutritional Lipid Stress Conditions

Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes store high amounts of cholesterol and cholesteryl esters in reservosomes. These unique organelles are responsible for cellular digestion by provid-ing substrates for homeostasis and parasite differentiation. Here we demonstrate that under nutritional lipid stress, epimastigotes preferentially mobilized reservosome lipid stocks, in-stead of lipid bodies, leading to the consumption of parasite cholesterol reservoirs and pro-duction of ergosterol. Starved epimastigotes acquired more LDL-NBD-cholesterol by endocytosis and distributed the exogenous cholesterol to their membranes faster than con-trol parasites. Moreover, the parasites were able to manage internal cholesterol levels, al-ternating between consumption and accumulation. With normal lipid availability, parasites esterified cholesterol exhibiting an ACAT-like activity that was sensitive to Avasimibe in a dose-dependent manner. This result also implies that exogenous cholesterol has a role in lipid reservoirs in epimastigotes