title: The site of the bite: Leishmania interaction with macrophages, neutrophils and the extracellular matrix in the dermis.
abstract: Leishmania spp., the causative agents of leishmaniasis, are intracellular parasites, transmitted to humans via the bite of their sand fly vectors. Once inoculated, the promastigotes are exposed to the dermis, which is composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), growth factors and its resident cells. Promastigote forms are phagocytosed by macrophages recruited to the site of the sand fly bite, either directly or after interaction with neutrophils. Since Leishmania is an intracellular parasite, its interaction with the host ECM has been neglected as well as the immediate steps after the sand fly bite. However, promastigotes must overcome the obstacles presented by the dermis ECM in order to establish the infection. Thus, the study of the interaction between Leishmania promastigotes and ECM components as well as the earliest stages of infection are important steps to understand the establishment of the disease, and could contribute in the future to new drug developments towards leishmaniasis.
authors.affiliation: Gonçalo Muniz Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana Perrone
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: de Menezes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elvira M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Saraiva
authors.affiliation: Programa de Terapia Celular e Bioengenharia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. bruno.darocha-azevedo@utsouthwestern.edu.|Present Address: Department of Biophysics, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA. bruno.darocha-azevedo@utsouthwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: da Rocha-Azevedo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000469:parasitology*; D007891:Leishmania / Q000502:physiology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000502:physiology*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000502:physiology*; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Extracellular matrix; Leishmania; Macrophages; Neutrophils