Entamoeba Encystation: New Targets to Prevent the Transmission of Amebiasis

PLoS Pathog. 2016 Oct 20;12(10):e1005845. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005845. eCollection 2016 Oct.

Abstract

Amebiasis is caused by Entamoeba histolytica infection and can produce a broad range of clinical signs, from asymptomatic cases to patients with obvious symptoms. The current epidemiological and clinical statuses of amebiasis make it a serious public health problem worldwide. The Entamoeba life cycle consists of the trophozoite, the causative agent for amebiasis, and the cyst, the form responsible for transmission. These two stages are connected by "encystation" and "excystation." Hence, developing novel strategies to control encystation and excystation will potentially lead to new measures to block the transmission of amebiasis by interrupting the life cycle of the causative agent. Here, we highlight studies investigating encystation using inhibitory chemicals and categorize them based on the molecules inhibited. We also present a perspective on new strategies to prevent the transmission of amebiasis.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Amebiasis / transmission*
  • Entamoeba*
  • Humans

Grants and funding

We thank the support from the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (24117517, 26117719, 16K19117, 16H01365) to FM, (25460594) to HY, and (23406009, 26305013) to SH, and the Cooperative Research Grants of NEKKEN, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 to FM. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.