Solano-Gálvez SG, Álvarez-Hernández DA, Gutiérrez-Kobeh L, Vázquez-López R. Leishmania: manipulation of signaling pathways to inhibit host cell apoptosis.
Ther Adv Infect Dis 2021;
8:20499361211014977. [PMID:
34104433 PMCID:
PMC8165860 DOI:
10.1177/20499361211014977]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The maintenance of homeostasis in living systems requires the elimination of unwanted cells which is performed, among other mechanisms, by type I cell death or apoptosis. This type of programmed cell death involves several morphological changes such as cytoplasm shrinkage, chromatin condensation (pyknosis), nuclear fragmentation (karyorrhexis), and plasma membrane blebbing that culminate with the formation of apoptotic bodies. In addition to the maintenance of homeostasis, apoptosis also represents an important defense mechanism for cells against intracellular microorganisms. In counterpart, diverse intracellular pathogens have developed a wide array of strategies to evade apoptosis and persist inside cells. These strategies include the manipulation of signaling pathways involved in the inhibition of apoptosis where mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) play a key role. Leishmania is an intracellular protozoan parasite that causes a wide spectrum of diseases known as leishmaniasis. This parasite displays different strategies, including apoptosis inhibition, to down-regulate host cell defense mechanisms in order to perpetuate infection.
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