Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

APOL-1 Variants, Susceptibility and Resistance to Trypanosomiasis

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology

  • 155 Accesses

Synonyms

APOL-1: Apolipoprotein L1; APOL1; Human serum’s trypanosome-killing component; Sleeping sickness; Trypanosomiasis: African trypanosomiasis

Definition

African trypanosomes are flagellate protozoans that are transmitted to mammals after inoculation by flies of the genus Glossina, also known as tsetse flies. Chronic infection with these parasites is fatal if untreated. In humans, the disease is also called “sleeping sickness” and affects thousands of people per year in sub-Saharan Africa (Pays et al. 2014).

Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL-1), an ionic channel-forming protein, is the lytic component of the innate immune system that protects humans against infection from the majority of the African trypanosomes, except for Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in East Africa and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense in West Africa. These two species have evolved mechanisms to become resistant to lysis mediated by APOL-1 (Cooper et al. 2016).

In recent years, variants of APOL-1 have been identified that...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bucheton B, MacLeod A, Jamonneau V. Human host determinants influencing the outcome of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense infections. Parasite Immunol. 2011;33:438–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper A, Capewell P, Clucas C, Veitch N, Weir W, Thomson R, Raper J, MacLeod A. A primate APOL1 variant that kills Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016;10(8):1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuypers B, Lecordier L, Meehan CJ, Van den Broeck F, Imamura H, Büscher P, Dujardin JC, Laukens K, Schnaufer A, Dewar C, Lewis M, Balmer O, Azurago T, Kyei-Faried S, Ohene SA, Duah B, Homiah P, Mensah EK, Anleah F, Franco JR, Pays E, Deborggraeve S. Apolipoprotein L1 variant associated with increased susceptibility to trypanosome infection. MBio. 2016;7(2):e02198–15.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Genovese G, Friedman DJ, Ross MD, Lecordier L, Uzureau P, Freedman BI, Bowden DW, Langefeld CD, Oleksyk TK, Uscinski Knob AL, Bernhardy AJ, Hicks PJ, Nelson GW, Vanhollebeke B, Winkler CA, Kopp JB, Pays E, Pollak MR. Association of trypanolitic APOL1 variants with kidney disease in African Americans. Science. 2010;329:841–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hall JP, Wang H, Barry JD. Mosaic VSGs and the scale of Trypanosoma brucei antigenic variation. PLoS Pathog. 2013;9:e1003502.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kieft R, Capewell P, Turner CMR, Veitch NJ, MacLeod A, Hadjuk S. Mechanism of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (group 1) resistance to human trypanosome lytic factor. PNAS. 2010;107(37):16137–41.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Limou S, Dummer P, Nelson GW, Kopp JB, Winkler CA. APOL1 toxin, innate immunity and kidney injury. Kidney Int. 2015;88(1):28–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pays E, Vanhollebeke B, Uzureau P, Lecodier L, Pérez-Morga D. The molecular arms race between African trypanosomiasis and humans. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2014;12:575–84.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Morga D, Vanhollebeke B, Paturiaux-Hanocq F, Nolan DP, Lins L, Homblé F, Vanhamme L, Tebabi P, Pays A, Poelvoorde P, Jacquet A, Brasseur R, Pays E. Apolipoprotein L-1 promotes trypanosome lysis by forming pores in lysosomal membranes. Science. 2005;309:469–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salmon D. Adenylate cyclases of Trypanosoma brucei inhibit the innate immune response of the host. Science. 2012;337:463–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Samanovic M, Molina-Portela MP, Chessler AD, Burleigh BA, Raper J. Trypanosome lytic factor, an antimicrobial high-density lipoprotein, ameliorates Leishmania infection. PLoS Pathog. 2009;5(1):e1000276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor HE, Khatua AK, Popik W. The innate immune factor apolipoprotein L1 restricts HIV-1 infection. J Virol. 2014;88(1):592–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uzureau P, Uzureau S, Lecordier L, Fontaine F, Tebabi P, Homblé F, Grélard A, Zhendre V, Nolan DP, Lins L, Crowet JM, Pays A, Felu C, Poelvoorde P, Vanhollebeke B, Moestrup SK, Lyngsø J, Pedersen JS, Mottram JC, Dufourc EJ, Pérez-Morga D, Pays E. Mechanism of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense resistance to human serum. Nature. 2013;501:430–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vanhamme L, Paturiaux-Hanocq F, Poelvoorde P, Nolan DP, Laurence L, Van Den Abbeele J, Pays A, Tebabi P, Van Xong H, Jacquet A, Moguilevsky N, Dieu M, Kane JP, De Baetselier P, Brasseur R, Pays E. Apolipoprotein L-1 is the trypanosome lytic factor of human serum. Nature. 2003;422:83–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vanhollebeke B, Pays E. The function of apolipoproteins L. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2006;63(17):1937–44.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vanhollebeke B, De Muylder G, Nielsen MJ, Pays A, Tebabi P, Dieu M, Raes M, Moestrup SK, Pays E. A haptoglobin-hemoglobin receptor conveys innate immunity to Trypanosoma brucei in humans. Science. 2008;320:677–81.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alberta Children’s Hospital and The University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Luis Murguia-Favela

Authors
  1. Luis Murguia-Favela
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luis Murguia-Favela .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Biology, Monash University Dept. Biochemistry &, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Ian MacKay

  2. Autoimmune Disease Research Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Noel R. Rose

Section Editor information

  1. Child & Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada

    Stuart Turvey

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Murguia-Favela, L. (2017). APOL-1 Variants, Susceptibility and Resistance to Trypanosomiasis. In: MacKay, I., Rose, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9209-2_64-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9209-2_64-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9209-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9209-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation