Adaptive iron utilization compensates for the lack of an inducible uptake system in Naegleria fowleri and represents a potential target for therapeutic intervention.

ABSTRACT: Naegleria fowleri is a single-cell organism living in warm freshwater that can become a deadly human pathogen known as a brain-eating amoeba. The condition caused by N. fowleri, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, is usually a fatal infection of the brain with rapid and severe onset. Iron is a common element on earth and a crucial cofactor for all living organisms. However, its bioavailable form can be scarce in certain niches, where it becomes a factor that limits growth. To obtain iron, many pathogens use different machineries to exploit an iron-withholding strategy that has evolved in mammals and is important to host-parasite interactions. The present study demonstrates the importance of iron in the biology of N. fowleri and explores the plausibility of exploiting iron as a potential t

SUBMITTER: Arbon D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7326272 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature