Leishmania donovani GP63 paralogues cooperatively orchestrate visceral infection and persistence

Abstract

Highly plastic genome of Leishmania is thought to underlie its remarkable ability to adapt to diverse host microenvironments, yet how this plasticity translates into dermal versus visceral persistence remains unclear. GP63, a zinc metalloprotease, is a well-established determinant of promastigote infectivity, particularly in cutaneous leishmaniasis. Despite this, its role in amastigote stage and in visceral disease caused by Leishmania donovani remains undefined. Here, using an integrated approach combining phylogenetics, CRISPR-mediated genome editing, and biochemical analyses, we demonstrate that GP63 paralogues in L. donovani have undergone independent evolutionary diversification to support visceral infection. While GP63-paralogues encoded on chromosome 10, previously implicated in cutaneous manifestation caused by L. major, were found severely truncated and dispensable in L. donovani, two distinct GP63-paralogues encoded on chromosome 28 and 31 were found essential to establish visceral infection. LdGP63_31 facilitates promastigote attachment to macrophages by promoting lipid raft engagement and complement inactivation, thereby enabling host entry and subsequent amastigote differentiation. LdGP63_28 is essential for intracellular amastigote survival by suppressing host inflammatory pyroptosis. Structural and enzymatic analyses revealed preferential host localization and substrate specificities, possibly resulting from distinct amino acid substitution within conserved motifs of these proteases, indicating independent evolutionary adaptations. Importantly, loss of the LdGP63_28 more severely impaired amastigote reinfection than loss of its counterpart LdGP63_31. Together, these findings reveal coordinated functional specialization of GP63-paralogues ensuring visceral adaptation.