AUTHOR=Moradin Neda , Descoteaux Albert 

TITLE=Leishmania promastigotes: building a safe niche within macrophages

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2012.00121

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2012.00121

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>Upon their internalization by macrophages, <italic>Leishmania</italic> promastigotes inhibit phagolysosome biogenesis. The main factor responsible for this inhibition is the promastigote surface glycolipid lipophosphoglycan (LPG). This glycolipid has a profound impact on the phagosome, causing periphagosomal accumulation of F-actin and disruption of phagosomal lipid microdomains. Functionally, this LPG-mediated inhibition of phagosome maturation is characterized by an impaired assembly of the NADPH oxidase and the exclusion of the vesicular proton-ATPase from phagosomes. In this chapter, we review the current knowledge concerning the nature of the intra-macrophage compartment in which <italic>Leishmania donovani</italic> promastigotes establish infection. We also describe how LPG enables this parasite to remodel the parasitophorous vacuole.</p>