Global overview of Leishmania virulence factors, and the role of GP63 in promastigotes

Abstract

Protozoa parasites of the genus Leishmania have a great ability to avoid damage in the hostile environments they encounter throughout their life cycle within the host’s body. Parasites have developed many virulence factors to ensure their persistence and replication within the host, and the first role of these factors is to attenuate the host’s defenses against them through innate and adaptive immunity, as evidence indicates that the determinants of parasite virulence are responsible for evading the host’s defenses, allowing these organisms to survive on Alive in the host’s hostile immune environment. Understanding the molecular details of how these pathogens persist with impunity under extreme conditions is beginning to begin. The fact that Leishmania parasites have adapted not only to survive but are likely to reproduce is due to the protection afforded by specialized molecules on the parasite’s cell surface. Although recent years have seen clear and significant progress in the research on Leishmania in different directions, many issues have yet to be clarified. The surface of all parasites, especially protozoa, usually undergoes pronounced changes during their life cycle. It is of particular interest in the case of protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania whose surface is exposed to different and hostile environments within vertebrate and invertebrate organisms. Because of the importance that the cell surface of pathogenic parasites plays in their interaction with the host for survival, some efforts have been devoted to their characterization. This review aims to give an overview of the main virulence factors that contribute to parasite survival and survival. We have attempted to provide a brief picture of the factors that influence the interaction of the parasite in its host, further highlighting GP63 as a critical virulence factor affecting macrophage physiology as well as the functioning of the immune system.