Smith D F, Rangarajan D
Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK.
Glycobiology. 1995 Mar;5(2):161-6. doi: 10.1093/glycob/5.2.161.
Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania have a glycoconjugate surface coat (the glycocalyx) that acts as the interface between the parasite and its external environment. The principal components of the glycocalyx, the lipophosphoglycans and the glycoinositolphospholipids, have a variety of functions that facilitate parasite survival in both the extracellular and the intracellular stages of the life cycle. Recently, a novel hydrophilic Leishmania protein, the Gene B protein, has been identified on the surface of infective parasite stages. Attachment to the surface appears to be by association between a region of repeated amino acids in this molecule and components of the glycocalyx. As a consequence, the Gene B protein is exposed on the parasite surface while other peptides are buried beneath the glycocalyx. The putative functions of this unusual molecule are discussed.
利什曼原虫属的原生动物寄生虫具有一种糖缀合物表面被膜（糖萼），它作为寄生虫与其外部环境之间的界面。糖萼的主要成分，即脂磷壁酸聚糖和糖基磷脂酰肌醇，具有多种功能，有助于寄生虫在生命周期的细胞外和细胞内阶段存活。最近，一种新型的亲水性利什曼原虫蛋白，即基因B蛋白，已在感染性寄生虫阶段的表面被鉴定出来。该蛋白似乎通过该分子中一段重复氨基酸区域与糖萼成分之间的结合附着于表面。因此，基因B蛋白暴露在寄生虫表面，而其他肽则被埋在糖萼之下。本文讨论了这种特殊分子的假定功能。
