Facilitated hexose diffusion in kinetoplastida

The kinetoplastid glucose transporters belong to the glucose transporter super-family, exemplified by the mammalian transporters, especially GLUT1. Some species, which undergo a life cycle in which parasitic stages are exposed to different glucose concentrations in several hosts, have evolved two different transporters to deal with this difference. While all of the trypanosome transporters also carry D-fructose, GLUTs (excluding GLUT2 and GLUT5) do not. Mammalian glucose transporters are very much more susceptible to cytochalasin B and phloretin, inhibitors of GLUTs, than ale the trypanosome transporters. These properties suggest that the glucose transporter may be a good target fur anti-trypanosomal drugs. The trypanosome hexose transporter might also be a vaccine candidate if it is accessible to antibodies. Genes encoding proteins involved in glucose transport have been cloned from several kinetoplastid species. Typically, the expression of hexose transporter genes is stage-regulated. The putative hexose transporter gents are highly conserved among Kinetoplastidae.