Recent advances in the Giardia-host relationship reveal danger lurking behind the smile

About the Authors: Camila H. Coelho Affiliations Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America, Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America Steven M. Singer * E-mail: steven.singer@georgetown.edu Affiliation: Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America ORCID logo http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5719-7535 Citation: Coelho CH, Singer SM (2018) Recent advances in the Giardia–host relationship reveal danger lurking behind the smile. In addition to ADI and OCT, Ma’ayeh and colleagues report that both GS and WB release 13 different cathepsin B proteases, and Ortega-Pierres and colleagues [15] have recently demonstrated that a specific Giardia protease from the WB strain (named by the authors as giardiapain-1) can induce apoptosis in rat intestinal epithelial cells (IEC-6) and Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells and degrade proteins at tight junctions. [...]the small intestine is home to a robust microbiota, and several studies suggest that interactions among Giardia, the host, and these additional microbes all contribute to the eventual outcome of Giardia infection [19, 20]. Nitric oxide production by human intestinal epithelial cells and competition for arginine as potential determinants of host defense against the lumen-dwelling pathogen Giardia lamblia.