Iron and Parasites

Rossana Arroyo,Mireya De La Garza,Theresa Ochoa,Jung-Hsiang Tai

doi:10.1155/2015/291672

Abstract

Iron and Parasites

Highlights

During infection, there is a constant battle between the host and the invader for iron, in which the invader attempts to have access to host iron and the host arranges complex iron-withholding mechanisms to frustrate the iron stealing
All iron-containing proteins in eukaryotes can be used as iron sources by iron-seeking parasites; for that, several elaborate strategies have been developed by parasites to obtain host iron
In their research article “Binding and Endocytosis of Bovine Hololactoferrin by the Parasite Entamoeba histolytica,” the authors compare virulent trophozoites recently isolated from hamster liver abscesses with nonvirulent trophozoites maintained for more than 30 years in in vitro cultures, regarding their interaction with bovine iron-charged Lf (B-holo-Lf)

Summary

Introduction

During infection, there is a constant battle between the host and the invader for iron, in which the invader attempts to have access to host iron and the host arranges complex iron-withholding mechanisms to frustrate the iron stealing. We analyze the importance of iron in the host-parasite interplay. Tf and Lf maintain the free iron concentration too low to sustain the parasites growth. All iron-containing proteins in eukaryotes can be used as iron sources by iron-seeking parasites; for that, several elaborate strategies have been developed by parasites to obtain host iron.

Results

Conclusion