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      Shape, form, function and Leishmania pathogenicity: from textbook descriptions to biological understanding

      review-article
      Author(s): 1 , 2
      Publication date (Electronic):
      Journal: Open Biology
      Publisher: The Royal Society
      Keywords: morphology, Leishmania, pathogenicity, parasite

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          Abstract

          The shape and form of protozoan parasites are inextricably linked to their pathogenicity. The evolutionary pressure associated with establishing and maintaining an infection and transmission to vector or host has shaped parasite morphology. However, there is not a ‘one size fits all’ morphological solution to these different pressures, and parasites exhibit a range of different morphologies, reflecting the diversity of their complex life cycles. In this review, we will focus on the shape and form of Leishmania spp., a group of very successful protozoan parasites that cause a range of diseases from self-healing cutaneous leishmaniasis to visceral leishmaniasis, which is fatal if left untreated.

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          The genome of the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei.

          Matthew Berriman, Elodie Ghedin, Christiane Hertz-Fowler … (2005)
          African trypanosomes cause human sleeping sickness and livestock trypanosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. We present the sequence and analysis of the 11 megabase-sized chromosomes of Trypanosoma brucei. The 26-megabase genome contains 9068 predicted genes, including approximately 900 pseudogenes and approximately 1700 T. brucei-specific genes. Large subtelomeric arrays contain an archive of 806 variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes used by the parasite to evade the mammalian immune system. Most VSG genes are pseudogenes, which may be used to generate expressed mosaic genes by ectopic recombination. Comparisons of the cytoskeleton and endocytic trafficking systems with those of humans and other eukaryotic organisms reveal major differences. A comparison of metabolic pathways encoded by the genomes of T. brucei, T. cruzi, and Leishmania major reveals the least overall metabolic capability in T. brucei and the greatest in L. major. Horizontal transfer of genes of bacterial origin has contributed to some of the metabolic differences in these parasites, and a number of novel potential drug targets have been identified.
          Article 0 comments Cited 609 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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            The genome sequence of Trypanosoma cruzi, etiologic agent of Chagas disease.

            Najib M. El-Sayed, Peter J Myler, Daniella C. Bartholomeu … (2005)
            Whole-genome sequencing of the protozoan pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi revealed that the diploid genome contains a predicted 22,570 proteins encoded by genes, of which 12,570 represent allelic pairs. Over 50% of the genome consists of repeated sequences, such as retrotransposons and genes for large families of surface molecules, which include trans-sialidases, mucins, gp63s, and a large novel family (>1300 copies) of mucin-associated surface protein (MASP) genes. Analyses of the T. cruzi, T. brucei, and Leishmania major (Tritryp) genomes imply differences from other eukaryotes in DNA repair and initiation of replication and reflect their unusual mitochondrial DNA. Although the Tritryp lack several classes of signaling molecules, their kinomes contain a large and diverse set of protein kinases and phosphatases; their size and diversity imply previously unknown interactions and regulatory processes, which may be targets for intervention.
            Article 0 comments Cited 467 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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              Leishmaniasis.

              B Herwaldt (1999)
              In 1903, Leishman and Donovan separately described the protozoan now called Leishmania donovani in splenic tissue from patients in India with the life-threatening disease now called visceral leishmaniasis. Almost a century later, many features of leishmaniasis and its major syndromes (ie, visceral, cutaneous, and mucosal) have remained the same; but also much has changed. As before, epidemics of this sandfly-borne disease occur periodically in India and elsewhere; but leishmaniasis has also emerged in new regions and settings, for example, as an AIDS-associated opportunistic infection. Diagnosis still typically relies on classic microbiological methods, but molecular-based approaches are being tested. Pentavalent antimony compounds have been the mainstay of antileishmanial therapy for half a century, but lipid formulations of amphotericin B (though expensive and administered parenterally) represent a major advance for treating visceral leishmaniasis. A pressing need is for the technological advances in the understanding of the immune response to leishmania and the pathogenesis of leishmaniasis to be translated into field-applicable and affordable methods for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this disease.
              Article 0 comments Cited 251 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Open Biol
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Open Biol
                Journal ID (publisher-id): RSOB
                Journal ID (hwp): royopenbio
                Title: Open Biology
                Publisher: The Royal Society
                ISSN (Electronic): 2046-2441
                Publication date Collection: September 2017
                Publication date (Electronic): 13 September 2017
                Publication date PMC-release: 13 September 2017
                Volume: 7
                Issue: 9
                Electronic Location Identifier: 170165
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University , Headington Campus, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
                [2 ]Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford , Oxford OX1 3RE, UK
                Author notes
                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2836-9622
                Article
                Publisher ID: rsob170165
                DOI: 10.1098/rsob.170165
                PMC ID: 5627057
                PubMed ID: 28903998
                SO-VID: 0822eb68-4aa9-46dd-9361-5a1d33cf605e
                Copyright © © 2017 The Authors.
                License:

                Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                Date received : 5 July 2017
                Date accepted : 4 August 2017
                Funding
                Funded by: Wellcome Trust, http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100004440;
                Award ID: 104627/Z/14/Z
                Award ID: 108445/Z/15/Z
                Award ID: WT066839MA
                Categories
                Subject: 1001
                Subject: 15
                Subject: 129
                Subject: 200
                Subject: Review
                Subject: Review Article
                Custom metadata
                cover-date September 2017

                ScienceOpen disciplines: Life sciences
                Keywords: morphology,leishmania,pathogenicity,parasite
                Data availability:
                ScienceOpen disciplines: Life sciences
                Keywords: morphology, leishmania, pathogenicity, parasite

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