Cruzipain a major Trypanosoma cruzi cystein protease in host-parasite interplay

GEA S; GUIÑAZU N; PELLEGRINI A; CARRERA SILVA A; GIORDANENGO L; CANO RC; AOKI MP

INMUNOLOGIA

SOC ESPAÑOLA DE INMUNOLOGIA

Año: 2007 vol. 25 p. 225 - 225

0213-9626

p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal">The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, etiological agent of Chagas disease, is endemic in Central and South America and produces the most common myocarditis worldwide. Parasite persistence eventually leads to a debilitating heart disease that kills more than 50,000 people every year. There is no consensus as to whether tissue damage is caused entirely by the parasite or is exacerbated by an autoimmune response. In both models of disease progression, cruzipain- the major cysteine proteinase of T. cruzi- has been suggested to play an important role. Cruzipain is a member of the papain superfamily, and it is expressed as a complex mixture of isoforms by different strains of the parasite, as well as in all its developmental stages. This parasite glycoprotein plays a role in the process of T. cruzi internalization into mammalian cells, as proved by specifi