Review articleLeishmania exosomes and other virulence factors: Impact on innate immune response and macrophage functions

- Leishmania is able to render the host macrophage inactive and persist inside its phagolysosome by employing immune modulatory mechanisms.
- Leishmania exosomes are pro-inflammatory to the host, exacerbating the pathology.
- Herein we provide the most recent insights on the role of exosomes and other virulence factors, especially the surface protease GP63, in Leishmania-host interactions.

Leishmania parasites are the causative agents of the leishmaniases, a collection of vector-borne diseases that range from simple cutaneous to fatal visceral forms. Employing potent immune modulation mechanisms, Leishmania is able to render the host macrophage inactive and persist inside its phagolysosome. In the last few years, the role of exosomes in Leishmania-host interactions has been increasingly investigated. For instance, it was reported that Leishmania exosome release is augmented following temperature shift, a condition mimicking parasite's entry into its mammalian host. Leishmania exosomes were found to strongly affect macrophage cell signaling and functions, similarly to whole parasites. Importantly, these vesicles were shown to be pro-inflammatory, capable to recruit neutrophils at their inoculation site exacerbating the pathology. In this review, we provide the most recent insights on the role of exosomes and other virulence factors, especially the surface protease GP63, in Leishmania-host interactions, deepening our knowledge on leishmaniasis and paving the way for the development of new therapeutics.