Proteases in parasitic diseases.
Parasitic diseases represent major global health problems of immense proportion. Schistosomiasis, malaria, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and African sleeping sickness affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide, cause millions of deaths annually, and present an immense social and economic burden. Recent advances in genomic analysis of several of the major global parasites have revealed key factors involved in the pathogenesis of parasite diseases. Among the major virulence factors identified are parasite-derived proteases. This review focuses on the direct role of proteases in disease pathogenesis. Well-characterized examples of the roles proteases play in pathogenesis include their involvement in invasion of the host by parasite migration through tissue barriers, degradation of hemoglobin and other blood proteins, immune evasion, and activation of inflammation.
Department of Pathology, Sandler Center, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. jmck@cgl.ucsf.edu
James H
JH
McKerrow
Conor
C
Caffrey
Ben
B
Kelly
P'ng
P
Loke
Mohammed
M
Sajid
D000818:Animals; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010271:Parasites / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence
D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases