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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Carbohydrate metabolism in trypanosomatids: New insights revealing novel complexity, diversity and species-unique features

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Author(s):
Michels, Paul A. M. [1, 2] ; Villafraz, Oriana [3] ; Pineda, Erika [3] ; Alencar, Mayke B. [4] ; Caceres, Ana J. [5] ; Silber, Ariel M. [4] ; Bringaud, Frederic [3]
Total Authors: 7
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Edinburgh, Sch Biol Sci, Ctr Immun Infect & Evolut, Edinburgh, Midlothian - Scotland
[2] Univ Edinburgh, Sch Biol Sci, Ctr Translat & Chem Biol, Edinburgh, Midlothian - Scotland
[3] Univ Bordeaux, Lab Microbiol Fondamentale & Pathogenicite MFP, CNRS UMR 5234, Bordeaux - France
[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Parasitol, Lab Biochem Tryps, BR-05508000 Sao Paulo - Brazil
[5] Univ Los Andes, Fac Ciencias, Lab Enzimol Parasitos, Dept Biol, Merida 5101 - Venezuela
Total Affiliations: 5
Document type: Journal article
Source: Experimental Parasitology; v. 224, MAY 2021.
Web of Science Citations: 5
Abstract

The human pathogenic trypanosomatid species collectively called the ``TriTryp parasites{''} - Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. - have complex life cycles, with each of these parasitic protists residing in a different niche during their successive developmental stages where they encounter diverse nutrients. Consequently, they adapt their metabolic network accordingly. Yet, throughout the life cycles, carbohydrate metabolism - involving the glycolytic, gluconeogenic and pentose-phosphate pathways - always plays a central role in the biology of these parasites, whether the available carbon and free energy sources are saccharides, amino acids or lipids. In this paper, we provide an updated review of the carbohydrate metabolism of the TriTryps, highlighting new data about this metabolic network, the interconnection of its pathways and the compartmentalisation of its enzymes within glycosomes, cytosol and mitochondrion. Differences in the expression of the branches of the metabolic network between the successive life-cycle stages of each of these parasitic trypanosomatids are discussed, as well as differences between them. Recent structural and kinetic studies have revealed unique regulatory mechanisms for some of the network's key enzymes with important species-specific variations. Furthermore, reports of multiple post-translational modifications of trypanosomal glycolytic enzymes suggest that additional mechanisms for stage- and/or environmental cues that regulate activity are operational in the parasites. The detailed comparison of the carbohydrate metabolism of the TriTryps has thus revealed multiple differences and a greater complexity, including for the reduced metabolic network in bloodstream-form T. brucei, than previously appreciated. Although these parasites are related, share many cytological and metabolic features and are grouped within a single taxonomic family, the differences highlighted in this review reflect their separate evolutionary tracks from a common ancestor to the extant organisms. These differences are indicative of their adaptation to the different insect vectors and niches occupied in their mammalian hosts. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 18/14432-3 - A network for an integrative biology in neglected diseases: bridging epigenetics, metabolism and cell cycle in pathogenic trypanosomatids
Grantee:Ariel Mariano Silber
Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
FAPESP's process: 16/06034-2 - The biological role of amino acids and their metabolites in Trypanosoma cruzi
Grantee:Ariel Mariano Silber
Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants