Host–parasite interactions: an intimate epigenetic relationship

The epigenetics of host-pathogen interactions is emerging as an interesting angle from which to study how parasites have evolved sophisticated strategies to manipulate host gene transcription and protein expression. In this review, we discuss the application of an operational framework to investigate the host cell signalling pathways that are induced by intracellular parasites and the epigenomic consequences in the host nucleus. To illustrate this conceptual approach, we have focused on examples from two eukaryotic intracellular parasites of the apicomplexa phylum: Theileria and Toxoplasma. We review recent findings on intracellular parasitism strategies for hijacking host nuclear functions and discuss how we might think of the parasite and its proteome as an intracellular epigenator.