Leishmania dices away cholesterol for survival.

Albert Descoteaux (1) , Neda Moradin (1) , Guillermo Arango Duque (1)

1 INRS-IAF - Institut Armand Frappier

Host lipid alterations are centrally involved in Leishmania donovani infection, and infected patients exhibit hypocholesterolemia. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Ghosh et al. (2013) show that the metalloprotease GP63 released by L. donovani in the liver cleaves DICER1, inhibiting miR-122 maturation, which regulates cholesterol metabolism. These events decrease serum cholesterol and promote parasite growth.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Parasitology

Albert Descoteaux, Neda Moradin, Guillermo Arango Duque. Leishmania dices away cholesterol for survival.. Cell Host and Microbe, 2013, 13 (3), pp.245-7. ⟨10.1016/j.chom.2013.02.018⟩. ⟨pasteur-01130855⟩