Expression of a Leishmaniadonovani nucleotide sugar transporter in Leishmaniamajor enhances survival in visceral organs.
Exp Parasitol
; 129(4): 337-45, 2011 Dec.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21978449
Leishmania donovani and Leishmaniainfantum infections cause fatal visceral leishmaniasis, and Leishmaniamajor causes self healing cutaneous lesions. It is poorly understood what genetic differences between these Leishmania species are responsible for the different pathologies of infection. To investigate whether L.donovani species-specific genes are involved in visceral Leishmania infection, we have examined a L.donovani species-specific gene Ld1590 (ortholog of LinJ15_V3.0900) that is a pseudogene in L.major. We have previously shown that transgenic expression of L.donovani Ld1590 in L.major significantly increased the liver and spleen parasite burdens in infected BALB/c mice. In this study we report that Ld1590 potentially encodes a nucleotide sugar transporter (NST) which localizes in the L.donovani Golgi apparatus. Surprisingly, although transgenic expression of the Ld1590 NST increased L.major survival in visceral organs, deletion of Ld1590 NST in L.donovani had no significant effect on L.donovani survival in mice. These observations suggest that loss of the functional Ld1590 gene in L.major may have been associated with reduced virulence in visceral organs in its animal reservoir and could have contributed to L.major's tropism for cutaneous infections.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Leishmania donovani
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Vísceras
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Expresión Génica
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Proteínas de Transporte de Nucleótidos
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Leishmaniasis Visceral
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Exp Parasitol
Año:
2011
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos