Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Medical Scientist Training Program, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Mol Microbiol. 2021 May;115(5):930-941. doi: 10.1111/mmi.14682.
Trypanosoma brucei and other African trypanosomes are vector-borne parasites that cause substantial human suffering across sub-Saharan Africa. The T. brucei life cycle is punctuated by numerous developmental stages, each occurring in a specific environmental niche and characterized by a unique morphology, metabolism, surface protein coat, and gene expression profile. The environmental cues and signaling pathways that drive transitions between these stages remain incompletely understood. Recent studies have started to fill this gap in knowledge. Likewise, several new studies have expanded our understanding of parasite movement through specific tissues and the parasite's ability to alter movement in response to external cues. Life cycle stage differentiation and motility are intimately integrated phenomena, as parasites must be at the right place (i.e., within a specific environmental milieu) at the right time (i.e., when they are appropriately staged and preadapted for perceiving and responding to signals) in order to complete their life cycle. In this review, we highlight some of the recent work that has transformed our understanding of signaling events that control parasite differentiation and motility. Increased knowledge of T. brucei environmental sensing and signal transduction advances our understanding of parasite biology and may direct prospective chemotherapeutic and transmission blockade strategies that are critical to eradication efforts.
布氏锥虫和其他非洲锥虫是通过媒介传播的寄生虫，在撒哈拉以南非洲地区造成了巨大的人类痛苦。布氏锥虫的生命周期中存在许多发育阶段，每个阶段都发生在特定的生态位中，并具有独特的形态、代谢、表面蛋白外壳和基因表达谱。驱动这些阶段之间转变的环境线索和信号通路仍不完全清楚。最近的研究开始填补这一知识空白。同样，几项新的研究也扩展了我们对寄生虫通过特定组织运动的理解，以及寄生虫改变运动以响应外部线索的能力。生命周期阶段分化和运动性是密切相关的现象，因为寄生虫必须在正确的时间（即在适当的阶段，并且已经预适应了感知和响应信号）处于正确的位置（即在特定的环境中），才能完成其生命周期。在这篇综述中，我们强调了一些最近的工作，这些工作改变了我们对控制寄生虫分化和运动性的信号事件的理解。增加对布氏锥虫环境感应和信号转导的了解，有助于我们理解寄生虫生物学，并可能指导有前途的化学治疗和传播阻断策略，这对于根除工作至关重要。
