Intermediary metabolism of Trypanosoma cruzi.
In this article, Julio Urbino discusses the characteristics o f the intermediary metabolism of Trypanosoma cruzi (the causative agent of Chagas disease), which are responsible for the unusual capacity of this parasite to use carbohydrates or amino acids as carbon and energy sources without drastic changes in its catabolic enzyme levels(1-3). Many, but not all, o f the metabolic capabilities of this organism are shared with Leishmania and the procyclic form o f the African trypanosomes, and the reviewer presents a metabolic model which is also consistent with the information available on these other parasites(2,4).
Laboratorio de Química Biológica, Centro de Bioquimico y Biofísica, Instituto Venezolono de Investigaciones Científicas, Apartodo 21827, Caracas 1020A, Venezuela.
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