Successful vacuolar pathogens have developed sophisticated strategies to hijack the endomembrane system of host cells, sabotage their signal transduction pathways, and evade antimicrobial responses. The protozoan parasite Leishmania, the causative agent of leishmaniases in humans, is particularly adept at transforming the macrophage into a hospitable host cell. Here, we describe how Leishmania ...

Previous reports have suggested that Leishmania spp. interact with macrophages by binding to Mac-1 (CD1 1b/CD18), a member of the leukocyte integrin family. To better define this interaction, we tested the ability of leishmania promastigotes to bind to purified leukocyte integrins and to cloned integrins expressed in COS cells. We show that leishmania promastigotes bind to cellular or purified ...

The aim of this work is the in vitro and ex vivo assessment of the leishmanicidal activity of camptothecin and three analogues used in cancer therapy: topotecan (Hycantim®), gimatecan (ST1481) and the pro-drug irinotecan (Camptosar®) as well as its active metabolite SN-38 against Leishmania infantum. The activity of camptothecin and its derivatives was studied on extracellular L. infantum infra...

Miscellaneous imines and acyl hydrazones were prepared from 5-nitrofuraldehyde 5-nitrothiophene-2-carboxaldehyde. Their activities against Toxoplasma gondii Leishmania major parasites evaluated. Promising antiparasitic effects selectivities observed for certain imines. Cobalt(II) copper(II) complexes conserved the high anti-Toxoplasma of 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic carboxyl hydrazone (2a). In additio...

In the accompanying paper by Ilg et al., it was shown that Leishmania mexicana promastigotes covalently modify a secreted acid phosphatase and other proteins by carbohydrate epitopes characteristic for lipophosphoglycan (LPG). In this study, the reaction of the anti-LPG monoclonal antibodies (mAbs AP3 and L7.25) and of mAb L3.13, an antibody directed against an epitope present on the secreted a...

The 70-kDa heat shock protein (HSP70) is highly conserved among both prokaryotes and eukaryotes and plays essential roles in diverse cellular functions not only under stress but also under normal conditions. In the protozoan Leishmania infantum, the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis, HSP70 is encoded by two HSP70 genes. Here, we describe the phenotypic alterations of HSP70-II-deficient ...