Leishmania Interferes with Host Cell Signaling to Devise a Survival Strategy

Figure 4

PKC regulation in Leishmania infected macrophages: LPG of Leishmania inhibits PKC activation and translocation to the membrane. PKC is responsible for phosphorylation of p47phox and p67phox components of NADPH oxidase which are subsequently translocated to phagosomal membrane to form NADPH oxidase complex, which is responsible for superoxide anion generation and hence parasite killing. Further PKC phosphorylates myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS) and MARCKS-related protein (MRP) which are involved in actin turnover and finally in phagosomal maturation and lysosomal fusion resulting in parasite killing. As PKC activation is inhibited by Leishmania, this results in subsequent inhibition of all the above mentioned processes thereby favoring parasite survival.