Iron uptake controls the generation of Leishmania infective forms through regulation of ROS levels .

ABSTRACT: During its life cycle Leishmania undergoes extreme environmental changes, alternating between insect vectors and vertebrate hosts. In mammals the parasites replicate within parasitophorous vacuoles of macrophages, compartments that contain low concentrations of iron. Here we show that stimulation of iron transport, which is induced in Leishmania amazonensis by an iron-poor environment, triggers the differentiation of avirulent promastigotes into virulent amastigotes. Iron depletion from the culture medium triggered expression of the LIT1 ferrous iron transporter, growth arrest, and differentiation of wild type promastigotes into infective amastigotes. In contrast, LIT1 null promastigotes showed continued exponential growth in iron-poor media, followed by massive cell death. Iron depletion

ORGANISM(S): Leishmania amazonensis

SUBMITTER: Gowthaman Ramasamy 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-41641 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress