title: Living in a phagolysosome; metabolism of Leishmania amastigotes.
abstract: Leishmania amastigotes primarily proliferate within macrophages in the mammalian host. Genome-based metabolic reconstructions, combined with biochemical, reverse genetic and mRNA or protein profiling studies are providing new insights into the metabolism of this intracellular stage. We propose that the complex nutritional requirements of amastigotes have contributed to the tropism of these parasites for the amino acid-rich phagolysosome of macrophages. Amastigote metabolism in this compartment is robust because many metabolic mutants are capable of either growing normally or persisting long term in susceptible animals. New approaches for measuring amastigote metabolism in vivo are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. malcolmm@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Malcolm J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McConville
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Eleanor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: Vladimir A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Likic
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Naderer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002455:Cell Division; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007891:Leishmania / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000469:parasitology*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010588:Phagosomes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins