What's new for 'Trypanosomatids' in PubMed

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Sent on Thursday, 2011 Mar 31
Search kinetoplastids OR kinetoplastid OR Kinetoplastida OR "trypanosoma brucei" OR leishmania OR brucei OR leishmaniasis OR "African trypanosomiasis"
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PubMed Results

Items 1 - 4 of 4

1.	ILAR J. 2011 Feb 8;52(1):e8-15. The brazilian legal framework on the scientific use of animals. Filipecki AT, Machado CJ, Valle S, Teixeira Mde O. Escola Politécnica de Saúde Joaquim Venâncio (EPSJV/LIC-Provoc), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Av. Brasil, 4365, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, CEP 21040-360 or email afilipecki@fiocruz.br. Abstract Brazil has an exceptionally dynamic research sector in Latin America in health, biotechnology, and pharmacology, backed by defined government policies on science and technology and a health research agenda focusing on important neglected diseases: malaria, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, turberculosis, leprosy, and dengue. The Brazilian health research policy promotes partnerships and networks among scientists in academic institutions in both wealthy industrialized and disease-endemic countries, and in these efforts the government's guidelines for animal use in biomedical research are considered fundamental to guarantee both animal welfare and the quality of research. Given international discussions of animal experimentation regulations and guidelines, in this article we describe current Brazilian legislation governing the use of animals in scientific investigations. We conclude that, despite advances in the implementation of the 3Rs (reduction, refinement, replacement), the new regulatory framework does not sufficiently incorporate ethical considerations, lacking explicit reference to the 3Rs as well as measures for their full application. The more humane use of animals in research will depend on the approach adopted by Brazil's National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation to promote the 3Rs and to improve internal regulations as well as data collection and analysis in research institutions. In Brazil as elsewhere, one of the greatest challenges to policymakers is to harmonize the myriad and intertwined legal provisions without hindering biomedical research.
	PMID: 21447857 [PubMed - in process]

2.	Int J Parasitol. 2011 Mar 26. [Epub ahead of print] Lysosomal degradation of Leishmania hexose and inositol transporters is regulated in a stage-, nutrient- and ubiquitin-dependent manner. Vince JE, Tull D, Landfear S, McConville MJ. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. Abstract Leishmania parasites experience variable nutrient levels as they cycle between the extracellular promastigote stage in the sandfly vector and the obligate intracellular amastigote stage in the mammalian host. Here we show that the surface expression of three Leishmania mexicana hexose and myo-inositol transporters is regulated in both a stage-specific and nutrient-dependent manner. GFP-chimeras of functionally active hexose transporters, LmGT2 and LmGT3, and the myo-inositol transporter, MIT, were primarily expressed in the cell body plasma membrane in rapidly dividing promastigote stages. However MIT-GFP was mostly rerouted to the multivesicular tubule (MVT)-lysosome when promastigotes reached stationary phase growth and all three nutrient transporters were targeted to the amastigote lysosome following transformation to in vitro differentiated or in vivo imaged amastigote stages. This stage-specific decrease in surface expression of GFP-tagged transporters correlated with decreased hexose or myo-inositol uptake in stationary phase promastigotes and amastigotes. The MVT-lysosme targeting of the MIT-GFP protein was reversed when promastigotes were deprived of myo-inositol, indicating that nutrient signals can override stage-specific changes in transporter distribution. The surface expression of the hexose and myo-inositol transporters was not regulated by interactions with the subpellicular cytoskeleton, as both classes of transporters associated with detergent-resistant membranes. LmGT3-GFP and MIT-GFP proteins C-terminally modified with mono-ubiquitin were constitutively transported to the MVT-lysosome, suggesting that ubiquitination may play a key role in regulating the subcellular distribution of these transporters and parasite adaptation to different nutrient conditions. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
	PMID: 21447343 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

3.	Biochim Biophys Acta. 2011 Mar 26. [Epub ahead of print] The Lipid Composition of a Cell Membrane Modulates the Interaction of an Antiparasitic Peptide at the Air-Water Interface. Herculano RD, Pavinatto FJ, Caseli L, D'Silva C, Oliveira ON Jr. Faculdade de Ciências e Letras de Assis, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Assis, SP, Brazil. Abstract The antiparasitic property of peptides is believed to be associated with their interactions with the protozoan membrane, which calls for research on the identification of membrane sites capable of peptide binding. In this study we investigated the interaction of a lipophilic glutathioine peptide known to be effective against the African Sleeping Sickness (ASS - African Trypanosomiasis) and cell membrane models represented by Langmuir monolayers. It is shown that even small amounts of the peptide affect the monolayers of some phospholipids and other lipids, which points to a significant interaction. The latter did not depend on the electrical charge of the monolayer-forming molecules but the peptide action was particularly distinctive for cholesterol+sphingomyelin monolayers that roughly resemble rafts on a cell membrane. Using in situ polarization-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS), we found that the orientation of the peptide is affected by the phospholipids and dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB), but not in monolayers comprising cholesterol+sphingomyelin. In this mixed monolayer resembling rafts, the peptide still interacts and has some induced order, probably because the peptide molecules are fitted together into a compact monolayer. Therefore, the lipid composition of the monolayer modulates the interaction with the lipophilic glutathioine peptide, and this may have important implications in understanding how the peptide acts on specific sites of the protozoan membrane. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.
	PMID: 21447322 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

4.	Trop Med Int Health. 2011 Mar 29. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2011.02772.x. [Epub ahead of print] Health care-seeking behaviour and diagnostic delays for Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hasker E, Lumbala C, Mbo F, Mpanya A, Kande V, Lutumba P, Boelaert M.  Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit, Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium  National Program for Control of Human African Trypanosomiasis, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo  Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Abstract Objective  About half of the patients with Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are currently detected by fixed health facilities and not by mobile teams. Given the recent policy to integrate HAT control into general health services, we studied health seeking behaviour in these spontaneously presenting patients. Methods  We took a random sample from all patients diagnosed with a first-time HAT episode through passive case finding between 1 October 2008 and 30 September 2009 in the two most endemic provinces of the DRC. Patients were approached at their homes for a structured interview. We documented patient delay (i.e. time between onset of symptoms and contacting a health centre) and health system delay (i.e. time between first contact and correct diagnosis of HAT). Results  Median patient delay was 4 months (IQR 1-10 months, n = 66); median health system delay was 3 months (IQR 0.5-11 months). Those first presenting to public health centres had a median systems delay of 7 months (IQR 2-14 months, n = 23). On median, patients were diagnosed upon the forth visit to a health facility (IQR 3rd-7th visit). Conclusions  Substantial patient as well as health system delays are incurred in HAT cases detected passively. Public health centres are performing poorly in the diagnostic work-up for HAT, mainly because HAT is a relatively rare disease with few and non-specific early symptoms. Integration of HAT diagnosis and treatment into general health services requires strong technical support and well-organized supervision and referral mechanisms. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
	PMID: 21447063 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]