Autophagy: A necessary process during the Trypanosoma cruzi life-cycle

ABSTRACTAutophagy is a well-conserved process of self-digestion of intracellular components. T. cruzi is a protozoan parasite with a complex life-cycle that involves insect vectors and mammalian hosts. Like other eukaryotic organisms, T. cruzi possesses an autophagic pathway that is activated during metacyclogenesis, the process that generates the infective forms of parasites. In addition, it has been demonstrated that mammalian autophagy has a role during host cell invasion by T. cruzi, and that T. cruzi can modulate this process to its own benefit. This review describes the latest findings concerning the participation of autophagy in both the T. cruzi differentiation processes and during the interaction of parasites within the host cells. Data to date suggest parasite autophagy is important for parasite survival and differentiation, which offers interesting prospects for therapeutic strategies. Additionally, the interruption of mammalian autophagy reduces the parasite infectivity, interfering with the i...