Proteases from Protozoa and Their Role in Infection

One of the major classes of virulence factors acting in different host-pathogen interaction systems is comprised of proteases. Pathogen-secreted or membrane-associated proteases could be found to participate in different stages of establishment of infection. They are explored as candidate drug targets due to their key participation in the disease development process carried out by the pathogen. In this chapter we present an extensive review of the proteases of different protozoan parasites. Throughout the article we have made an effort to provide a comprehensive list of different proteases from various parasitic protozoa that have been demonstrated to execute major functions in the respective infection processes. Attempts have also been made to present their mode of action with respect to host invasion and disease development.