AUTHOR=Calvet Claudia M., Melo Tatiana G., Garzoni Luciana R., Oliveira-Jr Francisco Odencio R., Silva Neto Dayse T., Meirelles Maria de Nazareth S., Pereira Mirian C.

TITLE=Current understanding of the Trypanosoma cruzi-cardiomyocyte interaction

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=3

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2012.00327

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2012.00327

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Trypanosoma cruzi</italic>, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, exhibits multiple strategies to ensure its establishment and persistence in the host. Although this parasite has the ability to infect different organs, heart impairment is the most frequent clinical manifestation of the disease. Advances in knowledge of <italic>T. cruzi</italic>–cardiomyocyte interactions have contributed to a better understanding of the biological events involved in the pathogenesis of Chagas disease. This brief review focuses on the current understanding of molecules involved in <italic>T. cruzi</italic>–cardiomyocyte recognition, the mechanism of invasion, and on the effect of intracellular development of <italic>T. cruzi</italic> on the structural organization and molecular response of the target cell.</p>