Molecular biology of kinetoplastid parasites

Contents
Preface
Current Books of Interest
About the Editor
1. Genome-wide Profiling of Unique Domain Architectures Reveals Novel Epigenetic Regulators of Leishmania infantum
	Introduction
	Results and discussion
	Conclusion
	Materials and methods
2. Role of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 in Leishmania–Macrophage Interaction:
	Introduction
	Structure of HIF-1
	Regulation of HIF-1α
	Regulation of HIF-1 activity
	Role of HIF-1 in physiology
	Role of HIF-1 in infection and innate immunity
	HIF-1 as possible drug target in visceral form of leishmaniasis
3. Response of B Lymphocytes During Leishmania Infection
	Leishmaniasis
	Immune system elements
	Host immune response
	B-cell development and functions of B-cells
	B-cell pathogenicity during Leishmania infection
	Developmental deregulation of B-cells during pathological condition
	Regulatory B-cells
	Secretion of IL-10 from B-lymphocytes during Leishmania infection
4. Cellular Defence of the Leishmania Parasite
	Introduction
	Distribution
	Life cycle
	Treatment
	Challenges in the field of treatment
	Parasite’s defence arsenal
	Host manipulation by parasite
Molecular Regulation of Macrophage Class Switching in Indian Post-kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL)
	Introduction
	Historical background of PKDL
	Clinical features of PKDL
	Alternative activation of macrophages and disease etiopathogenesis of PKDL
	Status of cytokine milieu in dermal leishmaniasis
	Toll-like receptors in PKDL
	Status of reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates in PKDL
	Attenuated phosphorylation of p-38 and ERK in PKDL
	Role of host and parasite arginase 1 in PKDL
	Status of co-stimulatory molecules, CD80/CD 86 in PKDL
	Role of vitamin D in Indian PKDL
	Status of MRC 1 in Indian PKDL
6. Leishmania Exploits Host’s Defence Machineries for Survival: A Tale of Immune Evasion
	Introduction
	Early stages of infection
	Mid stages of infection
	Late stages of infection
	Protecting own niche: prevention of host cell apoptosis
Ceramide in the Establishment of Visceral Leishmaniasis, an Insight into Membrane Architecture and Pathogenicity
	Introduction
	Pathways of ceramide biosynthesis
	Ceramide an important component of inflammatory response
	Role of ceramide in infectious diseases
	Biphasic role of ceramide during visceral leishmaniasis
	Ceramide-mediated impairment in antigen presentation
	Ceramide mediated regulation of kinases and phosphatises
	Modulation of T-cell subsets through ceramide generation during visceral leishmaniasis
8. The Role of Haemproteins in Different Life Cycle Stages of Leishmania
	Introduction
	Haem and haem containing proteins
	Leishmania need haem for survival
	Source of haem and its acquisition systems in Leishmania
	Role of different types of haemproteins in eukaryotes and prokaryotes
	Conclusions
	Future trends
9. Pre-adaptation of Leishmania Promastigotes to Intracellular Life: Ensuring a Successful Infection
	Introduction
	Membrane and cytoskeleton-sensing the changes
	Parasite exoproteome-modulating the host
	Cytosolic proteins: a pool of stress busters
	The metabolic adaptations
	The global picture of parasite preadaptation
	Concluding remarks
10. DNA Topoisomerases of Kinetoplastid Parasites: Brief Overview and Recent Perspectives
	Introduction
	Different topoisomerases of kinetoplastid parasites
	Exploiting the topoisomerases of kinetoplastid parasites for therapeutic interventions
	Conclusion and future perspectives
11. Host–Kinetoplastid Parasite Interaction at the Immune System Interface: Immune Evasion and Immunotherapy
	Introduction
	Molecular host–parasite interaction and strategies of immune evasion by the parasite
	Morphological characterization of kinetoplastids
	Leishmania
	Trypanosoma
	Development of immunotherapeuetics
	Vaccination using parasite derived immunogenic components
	Conclusion
12. Extracellular Matrix Interacting Proteins of Trypanosomatids: Adhesion and Invasion of Host Tissues
	Introduction
	General overview of extracellular matrix components
	Mechanism of extracellular matrix interaction by the extracellular matrix interacting proteins
	Synopsis
13. Effects of Phospholipid Analogues on Trypanosomatids
	Introduction
	Phospholipids and their importance for the cell
	Phospholipids biosynthetic pathways in mammalian cells and in trypanosomatids
	Design and synthesis of phospholipid analogues
	Effect of phospholipid analogues on the growth and morphology of trypanosomatids
	Cell death processes and immunomodulatory effects induced by phospholipid analogues
	A critical view of the use of miltefosine for treatment of leishmaniasis
Index