reservosome matrix

GO:0106125 · Membrane organelle · Subcellular region · Proposed

A matrix composed of planar membranes, vesicles and lipid inclusions within the reservosome. [GO:0106125]

Part of: reservosome (cellstructuremech:reservosome)

UniProt location names: UniProt Consortium, CC BY 4.0. Reference label and route sources.

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Role
reservosome internal membrane profiles	Lipid	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	Planar membrane profiles that traverse the reservosome matrix and have a membrane architecture similar to the surrounding reservosome boundary membrane. `GO:0106125` GO:0106125 defines the reservosome matrix as containing planar membranes. `DOI:10.1002/jemt.20592` Sant'Anna et al. 2008 resolved membrane profiles and longer uranyl-acetate-stained internal membranes inside T. cruzi reservosomes.
reservosome internal vesicles	Other	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	Intralumenal vesicles observed as part of the complex internal reservosome architecture. `GO:0106125` GO:0106125 defines vesicles as constituents of the reservosome matrix. `DOI:10.1002/jemt.20592` Sant'Anna et al. 2008 detected internal vesicles in T. cruzi reservosomes by electron microscopy.
reservosome lipid inclusions	Lipid	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	Electron-lucent lipid inclusions embedded in the reservosome matrix and used to store sterols in T. cruzi epimastigotes. `GO:0106125` GO:0106125 includes lipid inclusions in the reservosome matrix definition. `DOI:10.1002/jemt.20592` Sant'Anna et al. 2008 described electron-lucent lipid bodies inside T. cruzi reservosomes. `DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0022359` Pereira et al. 2011 studied cholesterol mobilization from reservosome lipid inclusions in T. cruzi epimastigotes.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:5693 Trypanosoma cruzi — VARIABLE: The reservosome matrix is present in the reservosomes of T. cruzi epimastigotes; reservosomes are absent from amastigotes and trypomastigotes. [DOI:10.1017/S0031182004005797]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:5693 Trypanosoma cruzi — Kinetoplastid parasite whose epimastigote reservosome matrix was analyzed with thin-section, uranyl-acetate, and freeze-fracture electron microscopy. [DOI:10.1002/jemt.20592]

Functions

sterol storage in reservosome lipid inclusions — Reservosome lipid inclusions store and mobilize sterols, including cholesterol endocytosed by T. cruzi epimastigotes.
- DOI:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2002.tb11317.x Cunha-e-Silva et al. 2002 isolated T. cruzi reservosomes and found large amounts of ergosterol and esterified cholesterol in the purified organelles.
- DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0022359 Pereira et al. 2011 showed that T. cruzi epimastigotes store and mobilize cholesterol in reservosome lipid inclusions.

Mechanism graphs

Reservosome matrix internal architecture (FUNCTION)

The reservosome matrix lies inside the reservosome and contains internal membrane profiles, internal vesicles, and lipid inclusions.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
reservosome matrix	is part of	reservosome	`GO:0106125` GO:0106125 defines the reservosome matrix as a matrix within the reservosome. `GO:0106123` GO:0106123 is the cellular-component term for reservosome.
reservosome internal membrane profiles	is part of	reservosome matrix	`GO:0106125` GO:0106125 lists planar membranes as part of the reservosome matrix. `DOI:10.1002/jemt.20592` Sant'Anna et al. 2008 observed internal membranes inside T. cruzi reservosomes.
reservosome internal vesicles	is part of	reservosome matrix	`GO:0106125` GO:0106125 lists vesicles as part of the reservosome matrix. `DOI:10.1002/jemt.20592` Sant'Anna et al. 2008 observed internal vesicles in T. cruzi reservosomes.
reservosome lipid inclusions	is part of	reservosome matrix	`GO:0106125` GO:0106125 lists lipid inclusions as part of the reservosome matrix. `DOI:10.1002/jemt.20592` Sant'Anna et al. 2008 detected electron-lucent lipid bodies in the complex internal structure of T. cruzi reservosomes.
reservosome lipid inclusions	stores	cholesterol	`DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0022359` Pereira et al. 2011 studied cholesterol storage and mobilization in reservosome lipid inclusions.

Discussions

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact source-neutral identifiers for reservosome matrix internal membranes, vesicles, and lipid inclusions. GO:0106125 identifies the whole reservosome matrix, but the internal matrix substructures were curated as morphology-backed labels until exact source-neutral lipid, vesicle, or membrane groundings can be verified.

Evidence

GO:0106125 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the reservosome matrix, defined as the planar membrane-, vesicle-, and lipid inclusion-containing matrix inside a reservosome.
GO:0110165 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for cellular anatomical structures.
GO:0106123 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the containing reservosome organelle.
PMID:18452191 PubMed record for the Sant'Anna et al. 2008 reservosome ultrastructure study.
DOI:10.1002/jemt.20592 Sant'Anna et al. 2008, New insights into the morphology of Trypanosoma cruzi reservosome, Microscopy Research and Technique.
DOI:10.1017/S0031182004005797 Figueiredo et al. 2004, Reservosome: an endocytic compartment in epimastigote forms of the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), Parasitology.
DOI:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2002.tb11317.x Cunha-e-Silva et al. 2002, Isolation and characterization of a reservosome fraction from Trypanosoma cruzi, FEMS Microbiology Letters.
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0022359 Pereira et al. 2011, Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes are able to store and mobilize high amounts of cholesterol in reservosome lipid inclusions, PLoS ONE.

Curation history

2026-09-28T12:39:54Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-28T12:41:17Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added GO parthood, reservosome internal membrane, vesicle and lipid-inclusion matrix constituents, Trypanosoma cruzi scope, sterol-storage evidence, record-level GO/DOI/PMID evidence, an internal-architecture graph, and a grounding TODO for matrix constituents.
2026-09-28T12:41:52Z codex · FIX_GRAPH_NODE — Declared the terminal cholesterol graph node used by the reservosome lipid-inclusion storage edge.
2026-09-28T12:55:28Z codex · ADDRESS_REVIEW — Resolved #1724 by linking reservosome matrix parthood and the reservosome graph node to the curated local cellstructuremech:reservosome record while retaining GO:0106123 as authority evidence.

Source: data/structures/membrane_organelle/reservosome_matrix.yaml