Leishmania infantum Ecto-Nucleoside Triphosphate Diphosphohydrolase-2 is an Apyrase Involved in Macrophage Infection and Expressed in Infected Dogs

摘要

Background Visceral leishmaniasis is an important tropical disease, and Leishmania infantum chagasi (synonym of Leishmania infantum) is the main pathogenic agent of visceral leishmaniasis in the New World. Recently, ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (E-NTPDases) were identified as enablers of infection and virulence factors in many pathogens. Two putative E-NTPDases (～70 kDa and ～45 kDa) have been found in the L. infantum genome. Here, we studied the ～45 kDa E-NTPDase from L. infantum chagasi to describe its natural occurrence, biochemical characteristics and influence on macrophage infection.