Metacyclogenesis as the Starting Point of Chagas Disease
A. Ferreira, Carla Nunes de Araújo, Isabela Cunha Costa Cardoso, Karen Stephanie de Souza Mangabeira, Amanda Pereira Rocha, Sébastien Charneau, Jaime M. Santana, Flávia Nader Motta, Izabela Marques Dourado Bastos
Abstract
Chagas disease is a neglected infectious disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, primarily transmitted by triatomine vectors, and it threatens approximately seventy-five million people worldwide. This parasite undergoes a complex life cycle, transitioning between hosts and shifting from extracellular to intracellular stages. To ensure its survival in these diverse environments, T. cruzi undergoes extreme morphological and molecular changes. The metacyclic trypomastigote (MT) form, which arises from the metacyclogenesis (MTG) process in the triatomine hindgut, serves as a crucial link between the insect and human hosts and can be considered the starting point of Chagas disease. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge regarding the parasite’s life cycle, molecular pathways, and mechanisms involved in metabolic and morphological adaptations during MTG, enabling the MT to evade the immune system and successfully infect human cells.