Basic Cell Biology of Trypanosoma cruzi

The paper reviews basic aspects of the biology of Trypanosoma cruzi emphasizing the following topics: (a) developmental stages of the life cycle in the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts (b) the cytoskeleton of the protozoan, especially the sub-pellicular microtubules (c) the flagellum, emphasizing its attachment to the protozoan body through specialized junctions (d) the kinetoplast-mitochondrion complex, describing its structural organization and the replication of the kinetoplast-DNA (e) the peroxisome (glycosome) and its role in the metabolism of the cell (f) the acidocalcisome, describing its morphology, biochemistry and functional role (g) the cytostome and the endocytic pathway (h) the organization of the endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi complex (i) the nucleus, describing its structural organization during interphase and division, and (j) basic aspects of the process of interaction of the parasite with host cells.