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Central carbon metabolism of Leishmania parasites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2010

ELEANOR C. SAUNDERS ,
DAVID P. DE SOUZA ,
THOMAS NADERER ,
MARIJKE F. SERNEE ,
JULIE E. RALTON ,
MARIA A. DOYLE ,
JAMES I. MACRAE ,
JENNY L. CHAMBERS ,
JOANNE HENG  and
AMSHA NAHID
...Show all authors
ELEANOR C. SAUNDERS
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
DAVID P. DE SOUZA
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
THOMAS NADERER
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
MARIJKE F. SERNEE
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
JULIE E. RALTON
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
MARIA A. DOYLE
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
JAMES I. MACRAE
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
JENNY L. CHAMBERS
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
JOANNE HENG
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
AMSHA NAHID
Affiliation:
Metabolomics Australia, Bio21 Institute of Molecular Science and Biotechnology, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
VLADIMIR A. LIKIC
Affiliation:
Metabolomics Australia, Bio21 Institute of Molecular Science and Biotechnology, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
MALCOLM J. MCCONVILLE*
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia
*
*Corresponding author: Malcolm McConville. Tel: 61-3-8344 2342. Email: malcolmm@unimelb.edu.au
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Summary

Leishmania spp. are sandfly-transmitted protozoa parasites that cause a spectrum of diseases in humans. Many enzymes involved in Leishmania central carbon metabolism differ from their equivalents in the mammalian host and are potential drug targets. In this review we summarize recent advances in our understanding of Leishmania central carbon metabolism, focusing on pathways of carbon utilization that are required for growth and pathogenesis in the mammalian host. While Leishmania central carbon metabolism shares many features in common with other pathogenic trypanosomatids, significant differences are also apparent. Leishmania parasites are also unusual in constitutively expressing most core metabolic pathways throughout their life cycle, a feature that may allow these parasites to exploit a range of different carbon sources (primarily sugars and amino acids) rapidly in both the insect vector and vertebrate host. Indeed, recent gene deletion studies suggest that mammal-infective stages are dependent on multiple carbon sources in vivo. The application of metabolomic approaches, outlined here, are likely to be important in defining aspects of central carbon metabolism that are essential at different stages of mammalian host infection.

Keywords

Parasite metabolismmetabolomicsglycosomesmass spectrometry
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 137 , Special Issue 9: Insights into the metabolomes of parasites , August 2010 , pp. 1303 - 1313
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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