Polymorphisms of cpb multicopy genes in the Leishmania (Leishmania) donovani complex.

In leishmaniasis, cysteine protease b (cpb) multicopy genes have been extensively studied because of their implication in host-parasite interactions. In the Leishmania donovani complex, responsible for visceral leishmaniasis, a set of interesting polymorphisms has been revealed, such as copy sequence or expression according to the parasite's life stage. The single nucleotide polymorphisms observed among these copies could be related to clinical characteristics such as dermotropic versus viscerotropic status. CPB COOH-terminal extension (CTE) is mainly responsible for genetic variability among the copies and appears highly immunogenic. These results suggest that further study of the role of CPBs, especially CTE in clinical outcome, is warranted.