Leishmania lipophosphoglycan: how to establish structure-activity relationships for this highly complex and multifunctional glycoconjugate?
Leishmania lipophosphoglycan: how to establish structure-activity relationships for this highly complex and multifunctional glycoconjugate?
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DOI：
10.3389/fcimb.2014.00193
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发表时间：
2014-01-01
影响因子：
5.7
通讯作者：
Boons, Geert-Jan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Forestier, Claire-Lise;Gao, Qi;Boons, Geert-Jan
许多病原微生物的一个关键特征是在其表面存在一个致密的糖萼，由脂锚定的糖蛋白和非蛋白结合的多糖组成。这些表面糖脂是细菌、真菌和原生动物病原体的重要毒力因子。高度复杂的糖共轭脂多糖(LPG)是利什曼原虫前鞭毛体阶段的主要表面大分子之一。LPG在寄生虫在沙蝇媒介和哺乳动物宿主中的生存和感染性方面发挥着关键的多效性作用。在这里，我们综述了利什曼原虫的组成，液化石油气的化学结构，以及目前对其在哺乳动物宿主中的影响。然后，我们将讨论目前用来阐明石油气功能的方法。最后，我们将对这一研究领域可能采取的未来方向提供一个观点，以详细揭示组成结构复杂的液化石油气的特定分子元素的生物活性。
A key feature of many pathogenic microorganisms is the presence of a dense glycocalyx at their surface, composed of lipid-anchored glycoproteins and non-protein-bound polysaccharides. These surface glycolipids are important virulence factors for bacterial, fungal and protozoan pathogens. The highly complex glycoconjugate lipophosphoglycan (LPG) is one of the dominant surface macromolecules of the promastigote stage of all Leishmania parasitic species. LPG plays critical pleiotropic roles in parasite survival and infectivity in both the sandfly vector and the mammalian host. Here, we review the composition of the Leishmania glycocalyx, the chemical structure of LPG and what is currently known about its effects in the mammalian host, specifically. We will then discuss the current approaches employed to elucidate LPG functions. Finally, we will provide a viewpoint on future directions that this area of investigation could take to unravel in detail the biological activity of the specific molecular elements composing the structurally complex LPG.