Role of kinases in virulence and pathogenesis of protozoan parasite

Protein kinases are known to regulate several cellular processes like metabolism, motility and endocytosis through phosphorylation of specific target proteins which forms a communication system relaying extracellular signals to intracellular milieu for an adaptive response. One of the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica, which causes amoebiasis and is one of the prominent reason for causing diarrhoea in infants of developing countries, where it remains the third leading cause of deaths in infants(1). The genome of this parasite codes for 331 putative protein kinases which accounts for 3.7% of the proteome. The kinome of the parasite is composed of several conserved and as well as kinase with unusual domain architecture. About one-third of kinome codes for transmembrane kinases (TMK) which is proposed to help the parasite to sense and adapt to the gut environment which is constantly changing. Many kinases are known to be involved in virulence but, the kinome of this important parasite is unexplored. In this review, we present an overview of E. histolytica kinases and their role in amoebic biology understood till now.