Structural and functional characterization of a putative polysaccharide deacetylase of the human parasite Encephalitozoon cuniculi.

ABSTRACT: The microsporidian Encephalitozoon cuniculi is an intracellular eukaryotic parasite considered to be an emerging opportunistic human pathogen. The infectious stage of this parasite is a unicellular spore that is surrounded by a chitin containing endospore layer and an external proteinaceous exospore. A putative chitin deacetylase (ECU11_0510) localizes to the interface between the plasma membrane and the endospore. Chitin deacetylases are family 4 carbohydrate esterases in the CAZY classification, and several bacterial members of this family are involved in evading lysis by host glycosidases, through partial de-N-acetylation of cell wall peptidoglycan. Similarly, ECU11_0510 could be important for E. cuniculi survival in the host, by protecting the chitin layer from hydrolysis by human chit

SUBMITTER: Urch JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2774430 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature