Intracellular protozoan parasites and apoptosis: diverse strategies to modulate parasite–host interactions

Molecular profiling of the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) response to chronic exposure to the myxosporean parasite Enteromyxum leei

“…Apoptosis can be either initiated or down-regulated by parasitic infections, contributing to dissemination within the host, inhibiting or modulating host immune responses or facilitating the intracellular survival of the pathogen (Lüder et al, 2001;James and Green, 2004). Differential apoptotic responses have been demonstrated in parasitic infections of mammals, sometimes with a biphasic modulation (early down-regulation and late up-regulation) (Lüder et al, 2001;Liu et al, 2009) Philasterides dicentrarchi induces apoptosis of turbot pronephric leucocytes (Paramá et al, 2007), and severely E. scophthalmi-infected turbot have increased apoptotic rates in the digestive epithelium, which could facilitate the spreading of the parasite (Bermúdez et al, 2010). The skin culture fluid from channel catfish resistant to the ciliate Ichthyophthirius multifiliis induces apoptosis of parasite theronts (Xu et al, 2005).…”

Overproduction of the Pro-Apoptotic Molecule, Programmed Cell Death 5, in Toxoplasma gondii Leads to Increased Apoptosis of Host Macrophages

“…Several reports have indicated that this includes alterations in apoptosis in distinct host cell populations [10,20]. This is not surprising because apoptosis is known to play a critical role in the regulation of the immune response [28], as an effector mechanism whereby, natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes eliminate infected cells [16], and as an innate response of cells after infection by intracellular pathogens [37].…”

“…This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (19041008), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. The first author has been supported by Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists (19)(20)(21).…”

A century of research: what have we learned about the interaction of Trypanosoma cruzi with host cells?

“…�dding to this already complex scenario, less canonical host cell invasion mechanisms should also be mentioned. These include the phagocytosis of apoptotic T. cruzi infected lymphocytes (Freire-de- , Luder et al 2001, Lopes et al 200�, De Meis et al 2008) and the less-studied autophagic pathway (Romano et al 2009). It is similarly worth mentioning that there are a variety of receptors linked to the host immune system, such as Toll-like receptors that parasite molecules engage with during in vivo infections, and which therefore may also play a key role in the host-parasite interplay (Tarleton 200�).…”