Growth, protein expression, and infectivity of Leishmania major cultured in different media

In vitro culture of Leishmania parasites is important for maintenance and biochemical analyses, but few studies have detected an effect of different growth media on the infectivity of a single Leishmania species and strain. To date, no study has found that the media in which Leishmania parasites were cultured might affect the pathogenesis of cutaneous lesions. We compared the infectivity of Leishmania major Friedlin strain cultured in M199, DMEM, and RPMI. L. major grows three times faster in M199, than in DMEM, while the growth rate of L. major in RPMI is moderate. In addition, the differentiation rate from non‐infectious procyclic into infectious metacyclic promastigotes varied, with more than 10% in M199, but less than 3% in DMEM. Moreover, the sizes of lesions in mouse ears caused by L. major in M199 was significant from those in DMEM at week three and week four post‐infection. Proteomic profiling using MALDI‐TOF MS/MS and LC‐MS/MS identified some key proteins that may be responsible for these phenotypes and these proteins may be used as drug targets.