Review

Genomics approaches in the understanding of Entamoeba histolytica virulence and gene expression regulation

César López-Camarillo¹*, Nancy Guillen^2,3, Christian Weber^2,3, Esther Orozco⁴, and Laurence A. Marchat⁵

¹Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, Posgrado en Ciencias Genómicas, México D.F., México.

²Institut Pasteur, Unité Biologie Cellulaire du Parasitisme, Paris, France.

³INSERM U786, Paris, France.

⁴CINVESTAV-IPN, Departamento de Infectómica y Patogénesis Molecular, México DF, México.

⁵Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela Nacional de Medicina y Homeopatía, Programa Institucional de Biomedicina Molecular, México D.F., México.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: genomicas@yahoo.com.mx. Tel.: +55-5488-6661 ext 5353; Fax: +55 5559 0187

Accepted 5 February, 2009

Entamoeba histolytica is the intestinal protozoan parasite responsible for amebic colitis and liver abscesses, which cause mortality in many developing countries. The sequencing of the parasite genome provides new insights into the cellular workings and genome evolution of this major human pathogen. Here, we reviewed recent advances in the efforts to understand virulence and gene expression regulation in E. histolytica by using genomic approaches based on microarray technology and bioinformatic analysis of genome sequence.

Key words: Entamoeba histolytica, amoebiasis, genome sequence, cDNA microarrays, genomic expression profiling, virulence, gene families.