Abstract

This paper revicws our rescarch on the localiza­ron of mitochondrial enzymes, using both cytochem­istry and immunocytochemistry . in an experimental system of normal and Trypanosoma cruzi infected heart muscle cells (HMC). Using cytochemical meih- ods, enzymes involved in the oxidation-rcduction eyele - in particular those participating in the electrón trans- port-such as cytochrome oxidase, succinate dehydro- genase (SDH1, isocilrate dehydrogenase (1CDH). glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), B hvdroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (B HBDH) and NADPH diaphorase were loealized on the inner mito­chondrial membrane of heart muscle cells and para­sites in experiments employing diaminobenzidine and tetrazolium salís, respectively. ATP synthetase com- plexes were found arranged along the tubular cristae in heart muscle cells, being visible as gold complexes in conventional microscopy and electrón speetro- scopic imaging (ESI). Applying the Oschman and Wall tcchnique (1972) and ESI we could study the behaviour of mitochondrial profiles in mouse heart muscle cells, in T. cruzi and during the parasite cell eyele inside the cell, emphasiz.ing wilh high contrast and resolution the differences between the parasite milochondrion and the mammalian cell mitochondria. The present data showed that several aspeets of the in vivo mouse muscle dynamics were reproducible in the in vitro system. The role of mitochondria in energy transpon in muscle cells is discussed.