title: Transport proteins of parasitic protists and their role in nutrient salvage.
abstract: The loss of key biosynthetic pathways is a common feature of important parasitic protists, making them heavily dependent on scavenging nutrients from their hosts. This is often mediated by specialized transporter proteins that ensure the nutritional requirements of the parasite are met. Over the past decade, the completion of several parasite genome projects has facilitated the identification of parasite transporter proteins. This has been complemented by functional characterization of individual transporters along with investigations into their importance for parasite survival. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on transporters from parasitic protists and highlight commonalities and differences in the transporter repertoires of different parasitic species, with particular focus on characterized transporters that act at the host-pathogen interface.
authors.affiliation: The Medical School, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.affiliation: The Medical School, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Major
authors.affiliation: The Medical School, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Sirintra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakjang
authors.affiliation: The Medical School, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Hirt
authors.affiliation: The Medical School, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: T Martin
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Embley
keywords: amino acid; hexose; parasite; protist; protozoa; purine; transport; transporter