Seco-Hidalgo V, Osuna A, Pablos LMD. To bet or not to bet: deciphering cell to cell variation in protozoan infections.
Trends Parasitol 2015;
31:350-6. [PMID:
26070403 DOI:
10.1016/j.pt.2015.05.004]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2015] [Revised: 04/11/2015] [Accepted: 05/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Some of the most crucial phenotypic aspects of parasites, such as an antigen-coated surface, parasite sexual differentiation, virulence, and drug resistance, rely on adaptive plasticity and/or stochastic events. At a population level, cell to cell variability represents an avenue for rapid response to drastic changes in the environment. Single cell approaches can be used to unravel the different strategies used by parasites to survive in the context of regulated transcriptional control (apicomplexa) or in its absence (kinetoplastids).
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