title: A specialized pathway affecting virulence glycoconjugates of Leishmania.
abstract: For virulence and transmission, the protozoan parasite Leishmania must assemble a complex glycolipid on the cell surface, the lipophosphoglycan (LPG). Functional complementation identified the gene LPG2, which encodes an integral Golgi membrane protein implicated in intracellular compartmentalization of LPG biosynthesis. Ipg2- mutants lack only characteristic disaccharide-phosphate repeats, normally present on both LPG and other surface or secreted molecules considered critical for infectivity. In contrast, a related yeast gene, VAN2/VRG4, is essential and required for general Golgi function. These results suggest that LPG2 participates in a specialized virulence pathway, which may offer an attractive target for chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Descoteaux
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Turco
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Beverley
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D006028:Glycosphingolipids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006031:Glycosylation; D006056:Golgi Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism*; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D015003:Yeasts / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006028:Glycosphingolipids; C095909:LPG2 protein, Leishmania; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C008290:lipophosphonoglycan