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=

Upon their internalization by macrophages, Leishmania 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 Leishmania donovani promastigotes establish infection. We also describe how LPG enables this parasite to remodel the parasitophorous vacuole.