PI3K/AKT signaling in parasites and parasite diseases: Role and therapeutic potential
Parasite diseases pose a significant threat due to the serious harm they cause to hosts, and developing affordable drugs for treatment presents enormous challenges. “Target repurposing” has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome this difficulty by leveraging the drug targets for human diseases...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Virulence |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21505594.2025.2532803 |
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| author | Lujun Yan Yating Li Xing Yang Rui Li Chunyin Zhu Xuedong He Xiaoliang Jin Guanghui Zheng Naunain Mehmood William C. Cho Shijun Bao Houhui Song Yadong Zheng |
| author_facet | Lujun Yan Yating Li Xing Yang Rui Li Chunyin Zhu Xuedong He Xiaoliang Jin Guanghui Zheng Naunain Mehmood William C. Cho Shijun Bao Houhui Song Yadong Zheng |
| author_sort | Lujun Yan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Parasite diseases pose a significant threat due to the serious harm they cause to hosts, and developing affordable drugs for treatment presents enormous challenges. “Target repurposing” has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome this difficulty by leveraging the drug targets for human diseases and matching them with homologs in parasites. The PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, known for its crucial role in regulating malignant cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, has been validated as a drug target for cancer. Interestingly, the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is also involved in parasite development, infection, and survival within the hosts. During infection, parasites can exploit the host’s PI3K/AKT signaling, which influences immune cell apoptosis, macrophage activation, regulatory T cell functions, and the communication between immune cells, thus facilitating chronic infection. The immunoregulatory functions of the PI3K/AKT signaling make its inhibitors promising candidates for the control of parasite diseases. This review mainly outlines the characteristics and functions of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway during parasite infection and further provides an overview of the drugs targeting the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway for treating parasite diseases. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b91952fefd0a43f6a13a7232c6ba0744 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2150-5594 2150-5608 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Virulence |
| spelling | doaj-art-b91952fefd0a43f6a13a7232c6ba07442025-08-20T03:13:07ZengTaylor & Francis GroupVirulence2150-55942150-56082025-12-0116110.1080/21505594.2025.2532803PI3K/AKT signaling in parasites and parasite diseases: Role and therapeutic potentialLujun Yan0Yating Li1Xing Yang2Rui Li3Chunyin Zhu4Xuedong He5Xiaoliang Jin6Guanghui Zheng7Naunain Mehmood8William C. Cho9Shijun Bao10Houhui Song11Yadong Zheng12Key Laboratory of Applied Technology on Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Veterinary Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Applied Technology on Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Veterinary Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, ChinaKey Laboratory of Applied Technology on Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Veterinary Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Applied Technology on Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Veterinary Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Applied Technology on Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Veterinary Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, ChinaKey Laboratory of Applied Technology on Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Veterinary Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Zoology, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, PakistanDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Applied Technology on Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Veterinary Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Applied Technology on Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Veterinary Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Belt and Road International Joint Laboratory for One Health and Food Safety, China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Animal Health Big Data Analytics, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, ChinaParasite diseases pose a significant threat due to the serious harm they cause to hosts, and developing affordable drugs for treatment presents enormous challenges. “Target repurposing” has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome this difficulty by leveraging the drug targets for human diseases and matching them with homologs in parasites. The PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, known for its crucial role in regulating malignant cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, has been validated as a drug target for cancer. Interestingly, the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is also involved in parasite development, infection, and survival within the hosts. During infection, parasites can exploit the host’s PI3K/AKT signaling, which influences immune cell apoptosis, macrophage activation, regulatory T cell functions, and the communication between immune cells, thus facilitating chronic infection. The immunoregulatory functions of the PI3K/AKT signaling make its inhibitors promising candidates for the control of parasite diseases. This review mainly outlines the characteristics and functions of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway during parasite infection and further provides an overview of the drugs targeting the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway for treating parasite diseases.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21505594.2025.2532803PI3K/AKT signalingparasiteparasite diseaseapoptosisimmune response |
| spellingShingle | Lujun Yan Yating Li Xing Yang Rui Li Chunyin Zhu Xuedong He Xiaoliang Jin Guanghui Zheng Naunain Mehmood William C. Cho Shijun Bao Houhui Song Yadong Zheng PI3K/AKT signaling in parasites and parasite diseases: Role and therapeutic potential Virulence PI3K/AKT signaling parasite parasite disease apoptosis immune response |
| title | PI3K/AKT signaling in parasites and parasite diseases: Role and therapeutic potential |
| title_full | PI3K/AKT signaling in parasites and parasite diseases: Role and therapeutic potential |
| title_fullStr | PI3K/AKT signaling in parasites and parasite diseases: Role and therapeutic potential |
| title_full_unstemmed | PI3K/AKT signaling in parasites and parasite diseases: Role and therapeutic potential |
| title_short | PI3K/AKT signaling in parasites and parasite diseases: Role and therapeutic potential |
| title_sort | pi3k akt signaling in parasites and parasite diseases role and therapeutic potential |
| topic | PI3K/AKT signaling parasite parasite disease apoptosis immune response |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21505594.2025.2532803 |
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