Calcium and Magnesium Ions Modulate the Oligomeric State and Function of Mitochondrial 2-Cys Peroxiredoxins in Leishmania Parasites [Enzymology]

Leishmania parasites have evolved a number of strategies to cope with the harsh environmental changes during mammalian infection. One of these mechanisms involves the functional gain that allowed mitochondrial 2-Cys peroxiredoxins to act as molecular chaperones when forming decamers. This function was demonstrated to be critical for the parasite infectivity in mammals and its activation was considered to be controlled exclusively by the enzyme redox state under physiological conditions. Herein, we revealed that magnesium and calcium ions play a major role in modulating the ability of these enzymes to act as molecular chaperones, surpassing the redox effect. These ions are directly involved in the mitochondrial metabolism and now also integrate a novel mechanism to stabilize the decameric form of 2-Cys peroxiredoxins in Leishmania mitochondrion. Moreover, we demonstrated that a constitutively dimeric Prx1m mutant impairs Leishmania's survival under heat stress, supporting the central role of chaperone function of Prx1m for Leishmania parasites during the transition from insect to mammalian hosts.

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