title: Virulence factors of Trypanosoma cruzi: who is who?
abstract: The aim of this review is to gather the current knowledge of Trypanosoma cruzi's virulence factors described to date in an integrative way, relating these with the parasite's life cycle and trying to elucidate their importance in each process. Several aspects relevant for the parasite's survival, such as invasion, resistance to oxidative damage, escape from the phagolysosomal vacuole and differentiation, among others, will be discussed. However, there is still a lot to learn about what virulence really means in T. cruzi and which parasite molecules are absolutely required to make T. cruzi one of the most successful pathogens to invade, survive and persist in a mammalian host.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Parasitology Unit, Medical Technology Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Osorio
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ríos
authors.forename: Bessy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: González
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000469:parasitology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors