[What makes a parasite "transforming"? Insights into cancer from the agents of an exotic pathology, Theileria spp].
Theileria are obligate eukaryotic intracellular parasites of cattle. The diseases they cause, Tropical theileriosis and East Coast Fever, cause huge economic loss in East African, Mediterranean and central and South-East Asian countries. These apicomplexan parasites are the only intracellular eukaryotic parasites known to transform their host cell and represent a unique model to study host-parasite interactions and mechanisms of cancer onset.Here, we review how Theileria parasites induce transformation of their leukocyte host cell and discuss similarities with tumorigenesis. We describe how genomic innovation, epigenetic changes and hijacking of signal transductions enable a eukaryotic parasite to transform its host cell.
Sorbonne Paris Cité, Epigenetics and Cell Fate, UMR 7216 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, 75013, Paris, France.
K M
KM
Cheeseman
Sorbonne Paris Cité, Epigenetics and Cell Fate, UMR 7216 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, 75013, Paris, France. jonathan.weitzman@univ-paris-diderot.fr.
J B
JB
Weitzman
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000502:physiology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D016794:Theileria / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D013801:Theileriasis / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics
Epigenetics; Host-parasite interactions; Infectious cancer; Theileria