Role and regulation of glycosylation pathways in leishmania parasites

Abstract

Leishmania are insect‐borne protozoan parasites that cause a number of important diseases in humans. These parasites alternate between two major developmental stages that proliferate within the digestive tract of the sandfly vector and the phagolysosome compartment of macrophages in the mammalian host. The insect stages that initiate infection in the mammalian host are coated with a complex glycocalyx composed of GPI‐anchored glycoproteins, phosphoglycans and proteophosphoglycans. Most of these molecules are shed following differentiation to the obligate intracellular stage, leaving a minimal surface coat composed of parasite and host‐acquired glycolipids. In contrast, in..