Do apicomplexan parasite-encoded proteins act as both ligands and receptors during host cell invasion?
Apicomplexan parasites are responsible for a wide range of diseases in animals, including humans, in whom Plasmodium species cause the devastating disease malaria. Several recent discoveries now indicate that these intracellular parasites may use a conserved mechanism to infect their host cells by using parasite-encoded proteins as both parasite ligands and receptors anchored to the host cells.
Gilson
Paul R
PR
Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health 85 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004 Australia.
Crabb
Brendan S
BS