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Author Spotlight: Identifying Compensatory Pathways in Malaria Parasites Containing Hypomorphic Allele of Essential Protein Kinases
Published on: November 22, 2024
The flexibility of Apicomplexa parasites in lipid metabolism
Serena Shunmugam1, Christophe-Sébastien Arnold1, Sheena Dass1
1Apicolipid Team, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, CNRS UMR5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, INSERM U1209, Grenoble, France.
Abstract:
Apicomplexa are obligate intracellular parasites responsible for major human infectious diseases such as toxoplasmosis and malaria, which pose social and economic burdens around the world. To survive and propagate, these parasites need to acquire a significant number of essential biomolecules from their hosts. Among these biomolecules, lipids are a key metabolite required for parasite membrane biogenesis, signaling events, and energy storage. Parasites can either scavenge lipids from their host or synthesize them de novo in a relict plastid, the apicoplast. During their complex life cycle (sexual/asexual/dormant), Apicomplexa infect a large variety of cells and their metabolic flexibility allows them to adapt to different host environments such as low/high fat content or low/high sugar levels. In this review, we discuss the role of lipids in Apicomplexa parasites and summarize recent findings on the metabolic mechanisms in host nutrient adaptation.
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