It is well known that iron is a crucial micronutrient for all living organisms. Due to its chemical properties, iron is an irreplaceable cofactor of many essential enzymes but is also potentially toxic when present in excess. The acquisition of iron from the environment can be challenging for organisms, especially for parasitic protists that rely solely on the host for available nutrients. One of the host defense mechanisms is to starve parasites by detaining the crucial iron in a form unreachable for pathogens. In this review, we summarize current information about iron homeostasis-related pathways of important human parasites, such as Plasmodium, trypanosomes, Leishmania, pathogenic amoebas and Trichomonas. We focus on the parasites’ strategies of iron acquisition, storage/detoxification, trafficking, and iron-regulated protein expression and address the questions of iron-influenced virulence and anti-parasitic chemotherapeutics targeted to iron metabolism. Finally, we outline the potential of understudied and somewhat neglected iron chelating agents as safe chemotherapeutics against protozoan parasites.

中文翻译：

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寄生原生生物中的铁 - 从摄取到储存以及我们可以干预的地方。

众所周知，铁是所有生物体的重要微量营养素。由于其化学性质，铁是许多必需酶的不可替代的辅助因子，但如果过量存在，也可能具有毒性。从环境中获取铁对于生物体来说可能具有挑战性，尤其是对于完全依赖宿主获取可用营养的寄生原生生物。宿主防御机制之一是通过以病原体无法到达的形式保留重要的铁来使寄生虫挨饿。在这篇综述中，我们总结了有关重要人类寄生虫（如疟原虫、锥虫、利什曼原虫、致病性变形虫和滴虫）的铁稳态相关途径的当前信息。我们专注于寄生虫的铁获取、储存/解毒、贩运、和铁调节的蛋白质表达，并解决铁影响的毒力和针对铁代谢的抗寄生虫化疗的问题。最后，我们概述了研究不足和有些被忽视的铁螯合剂作为针对原生动物寄生虫的安全化学治疗剂的潜力。