Autophagy in protists

University of Tübingen. Interfaculty Institute for Biochemistry. Tübingen, Germany.
Lancaster University. School of Health and Medicine. Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences. Lancaster, UK.
Université Catholique de Louvain. Duve Institute and Laboratory of Biochemistry. Research Unit for Tropical Diseases. Brussels, Belgium.
Université Catholique de Louvain. Duve Institute and Laboratory of Biochemistry. Research Unit for Tropical Diseases. Brussels, Belgium.
Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. IHEM-CONICET. Mendoza, Argentina.
University of Strathclyde. Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. Glasgow, Sotland, UK.
Johns Hopkins University. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. Baltimore, MD USA.
Johns Hopkins University. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. Baltimore, MD USA.
Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire Comparative des Apicomplexes; Inserm U1016-CNRS UMR8104-Université Paris-Descartes. Paris, France.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Celular. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Celular. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
University of Glasgow. College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences. Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation. Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Instituto de Parasitologia y Biomedicina “Lopez-Neyra”. CSIC. Granada, Spain.
University of Liverpool. Institute of Integrative Biology. Liverpool, UK.
Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. IHEM-CONICET. Mendoza, Argentina.
J. Stefan Institute. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Structural Biology. Ljubljana,Slovenia.
J. Stefan Institute. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Structural Biology. Ljubljana,Slovenia.
Université Catholique de Louvain. Duve Institute and Laboratory of Biochemistry. Research Unit for Tropical Diseases. Brussels, Belgium.

Abstract

Autophagy is the degradative process by which eukaryotic cells digest their own components using acid hydrolases within the lysosome. Originally thought to function almost exclusively in providing starving cells with nutrients taken from their own cellular constituents, autophagy is in fact involved in numerous cellular events including differentiation, turnover of macromolecules and organelles and defense against parasitic invaders. During the past 10–20 years, molecular components of the autophagic machinery have been discovered, revealing a complex interactome of proteins and lipids, which, in a concerted way, induce membrane formation to engulf cellular material and target it for lysosomal degradation. Here, our emphasis is autophagy in protists. We discuss experimental and genomic data indicating that the canonical autophagy machinery characterized in animals and fungi appeared prior to the radiation of major eukaryotic lineages. Moreover, we describe how comparative bioinformatics revealed that this canonical machinery has been subject to moderation, outright loss or elaboration on multiple occasions in protist lineages, most probably as a consequence of diverse lifestyle adaptations. We also review experimental studies illustrating how several pathogenic protists either utilize autophagy mechanisms or manipulate host-cell autophagy in order to establish or maintain infection within a host. The essentiality of autophagy for the pathogenicity of many parasites, and the unique features of some of the autophagy-related proteins involved, suggest possible new targets for drug discovery. Further studies of the molecular details of autophagy in protists will undoubtedly enhance our understanding of the diversity and complexity of this cellular phenomenon and the opportunities it offers as a drug target.

Keywords in Portuguese

Autofagia
Ubiquitinação
Trypanosomatina
Apicomplexa
Descoberta de drogas
Diferenciação do ciclo de vida

Keywords

autophagy
ubiquitination
pexophagy
evolution
free-living protist
parasitic protist
life-cycle differentiation
Trypanosomatidae
Apicomplexa
drug discovery

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Citation

DUSZENKO, Michael; et al. Autophagy in protists. Autophagy, v.7, n.2, p.127-158, Feb. 2011.

ISSN

1554-8627

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/15975

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Restricted access

Embargo date

2030-01-01

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