Entamoeba histolytica: Bridging the gap between environmental stress and epigenetic regulation

Abstract

Increasing evidence indicates that parasites display unique and diverse mechanisms of epigenetic regulation. In this chapter we present the current state of knowledge about the Entamoeba histolytica DNA/tRNA methyltransferase (Dnmt2) machinery and the related EhMLBP, a protein involved in the recognition of methylated DNA targets. The regulation of these epigenetic components by environmental challenges relevant to the biology of the parasite (including heat shock, glucose starvation, oxidative and nitrosative stresses) is also discussed.