Trichomonas vaginalis pathobiology: new insights from the genome

R. P. HIRT; N. DE MIGUEL; S. NAKJANG; D. DESSI; N. DIAZ; P. RAPPELLI; P. L. FIORI; J. C. MOTTRAM

Adv. Parasitology

Elsevier Science

Año: 2011; p. 87 - 140

The draft genome of the common sexually transmitted pathogen Trichomonasvaginalis encodes one of the largest known proteome with 60,000 candidate proteins. This provides parasitologists and molecular cell biologists alike with exciting, when not challenging due to large gene families in places, opportunities to unravel the molecular features of the parasite cellular systems and potentially the molecular basis of its pathobiology. Here we discuss recent investigations addressing selected aspects of the parasite’s molecular cell biology including surface and secreted virulent factors, membrane trafficking, cell signalling, the degradome, and the potential role of RNA interference in gene expression regulation.