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Investigating the Phagocytosis of Leishmania using Confocal Microscopy
Published on: July 29, 2021
Leishmania cell surface prohibitin: role in host-parasite interaction.
Rohit Jain1, Angana Ghoshal, Chitra Mandal
1Cell Death and Differentiation Research Laboratory, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi-110067, India.
Cellular Microbiology
|November 6, 2009
Summary
Leishmania prohibitin, a surface protein, is crucial for parasite infectivity and host interaction in visceral leishmaniasis. Targeting prohibitin may offer new strategies against this disease.
Area of Science:
- Parasitology
- Molecular Biology
- Immunology
Background:
- Proteins upregulated in parasitic forms can be key to disease.
- Leishmania donovani, causing visceral leishmaniasis, has an upregulated prohibitin orthologue.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of Leishmania donovani prohibitin in parasite infectivity and host interaction.
Main Methods:
- Compared wild-type and mutant prohibitin (GPI-anchor deficient) overexpression in Leishmania.
- Assessed parasite infectivity and surface protein expression.
- Investigated the role of anti-prohibitin antibodies and macrophage HSP70 in host-parasite interaction.
Main Results:
- Leishmania prohibitin is concentrated on the parasite surface, particularly at the aflagellar pole.
- Overexpression of wild-type prohibitin enhanced parasite infectivity, while a GPI-anchor deficient mutant reduced it.
- Anti-prohibitin antibodies and reduced macrophage HSP70 impaired Leishmania infection.
- Leishmania prohibitin elicits a strong humoral response in patients.
Conclusions:
- Leishmania prohibitin is vital for host-parasite interactions and infectivity in visceral leishmaniasis.
- Prohibitin represents a potential target for therapeutic interventions against Leishmania infections.
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