Besteiro Sébastien, Barrett Michael P, Rivière Loïc, Bringaud Frédéric
Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, The Anderson College, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G11 6NU, Scotland, UK.
Trends Parasitol. 2005 Apr;21(4):185-91. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2005.02.008.
The generation of energy in African trypanosomes is a subject of undoubted importance. In bloodstream-form organisms, substrate-level phosphorylation of glucose is sufficient to provide the energy needs of the parasite. The situation in procyclic-form trypanosomes is more complex. For many years, it was accepted that glucose metabolism followed a conventional scheme involving glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle and ATP-producing oxidative phosphorylation linked to the electron-transport chain. However, progress in sequencing the Trypanosoma brucei genome and the development of gene-knockout and RNA interference technology has provided novel insight. Coupling these new technologies with classical approaches, including NMR and mass spectrometry to analyse glycolytic intermediates and end products, has yielded several surprises. In this article, we summarize how these recent data have helped to change the view of metabolism in procyclic-form T. brucei.
非洲锥虫的能量生成是一个毫无疑问非常重要的课题。在血液形式的生物体中，葡萄糖的底物水平磷酸化足以满足寄生虫的能量需求。前循环型锥虫的情况则更为复杂。多年来，人们一直认为葡萄糖代谢遵循涉及糖酵解、三羧酸循环以及与电子传递链相关的产生ATP的氧化磷酸化的传统模式。然而，布氏锥虫基因组测序的进展以及基因敲除和RNA干扰技术的发展提供了新的见解。将这些新技术与包括核磁共振（NMR）和质谱分析糖酵解中间体及终产物在内的经典方法相结合，带来了一些惊喜。在本文中，我们总结了这些最新数据如何有助于改变对前循环型布氏锥虫代谢的看法。
