Blocking autophagy to prevent parasite differentiation: a possible new strategy for fighting parasitic infections?

Autophagy
Vanina AlvarezBoris Turk

Abstract

The genome of Trypanosoma cruzi was surveyed for autophagy-related genes. We have identified all the essential genes except for the Atg12 conjugation system and demonstrated functionality of the putative ATG4 and ATG8 homologs. TcAtg4.1 was primarily involved in the proteolytic processing of TcAtg8.1, the ATG8-homolog that was found to be localized to autophagosomal membranes during starvation. Autophagy was also found to be strongly upregulated during differentiation between developmental stages, a process that is essential for the propagation of the parasite. Based on our work, new strategies for treatment of Chagas disease, a chronic debilitating condition still without suitable chemotherapy, can be envisioned.

Citations

Nov 14, 2013·Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences : CMLS·Dawn M WalkerAbhay R Satoskar
Sep 15, 2011·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·Urška RepnikBoris Turk
Mar 14, 2009·Parasitology·R F S Menna-BarretoS L De Castro
Oct 14, 2008·Micron : the International Research and Review Journal for Microscopy·Rubem F S Menna-BarretoSolange L de Castro
Mar 17, 2009·Proteomics·Celso Sant'AnnaNarcisa L Cunha-E-Silva
Feb 15, 2011·Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology·Ana BrennandPaul A M Michels
Jun 30, 2009·Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology·Eun-Kyung MoonHyun-Hee Kong
May 5, 2009·Progress in Histochemistry and Cytochemistry·Wanderley de SouzaNarcisa L Cunha-e-Silva
Sep 8, 2016·The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology·Alejandra C SchoijetGuillermo D Alonso
Oct 3, 2012·Parasitology·Camila M AdadeThaïs Souto-Padrón
Oct 21, 2010·Physiological Reviews·Brinda RavikumarDavid C Rubinsztein
Oct 22, 2010·Autophagy·Michael DuszenkoPaul A M Michels
Oct 9, 2015·The Journal of Biological Chemistry·Jelena RajkovićBoris Turk
Feb 1, 2019·Cell Death & Disease·Rubem Figueiredo Sadok Menna-Barreto
Sep 6, 2008·Cell Death and Differentiation·A Orvedahl, B Levine

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