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Sent on Saturday, 2011 Aug 06Search kinetoplastids OR kinetoplastid OR Kinetoplastida OR "trypanosoma brucei" OR leishmania OR brucei OR leishmaniasis OR "African trypanosomiasis"
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| PubMed Results |
| 1. | J Ethnopharmacol. 2011 Jul 26. [Epub ahead of print]Treatment of leishmaniasis in the Oyapock basin (French Guiana): A K.A.P. survey and analysis of the evolution of phytotherapy knowledge amongst Wayãpi Indians.Odonne G, Berger F, Stien D, Grenand P, Bourdy G.SourceCNRS-UMR Ecofog, Université des Antilles et de la Guyane, 97337 Cayenne Cedex, France; CNRS-UPS 2561, 2 Avenue Gustave Charlery, 97300 Cayenne, France. AbstractETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a neglected disease with a high incidence in French Guiana, mainly in the middle and upper Oyapock basin, where Amerindian and some Brazilian people live. AIMS OF THE STUDY:The main goals of this work were (i) to assess the knowledge about leishmaniasis in the different populations of the middle and upper Oyapock basin, (ii) to study the therapeutic strategies adopted by people affected by leishmaniasis and (iii) to document the use of phytotherapeutic remedies for leishmaniasis. Knowledge, attitudes and practices (K.A.P.) related to this disease and its treatments have been studied according to cultural group and geographical settlement. Within the Wayãpi group, the evolution of the knowledge of phytoremedies over the last 20 years has been characterised by literature-based comparisons. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A total of 144 questionnaires were administered in all the villages of the upper Oyapock and Camopi basins. Correspondence analyses were used for multivariate analysis. Plant species were identified at the Cayenne Herbarium (CAY). RESULTS:The biomedical concept of leishmaniasis correlates well with the Teko and Wayãpi concepts of kalasapa and kalasapau. Although the vector of this disease was not correctly identified, the most commonly cited aetiology (74.5%) was vector-borne, and related epidemiological schemes correlate well with the one encountered in French Guiana. Theoretically and practically, health centres were the most commonly used resource for diagnostic in instances of leishmaniasis infection (65.9%), independently of the patient's cultural group, along with the use of pharmaceutical drugs (85.3%). Pharmaceuticals were commonly utilised despite the frequent (51.5%) use of phytotherapeutic remedies, alone or in combination with drugs. The most cited medicinal plant species for the treatment of leishmaniasis included Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb. (Iridaceae, cited 14 times), Euterpe oleracea Mart. (Arecaceae, 9), Cecropia obtusa Trecul (Cecropiaceae, 8), Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae, 7), Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Bombacaceae, 6) and Carica papaya L. (Caricaceae, 6). Multiple correspondence analyses demonstrated that the species used in leishmaniasis remedies are more prone to vary by the user's place of residence than by their cultural origin, which indicates that exchange of knowledge about leishmaniasis remedies has occurred across different cultural groups. Literature-based comparisons between the remedies for leishmaniasis used by the Wayãpi during the 1980s showed a striking evolution, both in terms of diversity of species and number of plants used. The large number of species shared with other Guianese groups argues for intercultural exchange and may explain the majority (57.1%) of the newly used species highlighted in our study. CONCLUSIONS:Leishmaniasis is a well-known disease in the studied area. Phytotherapeutic treatments are still in use, although they are not the main source of remedies, and should undergo pharmacological studies to evaluate their potential therapeutic value. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. |
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| 2. | Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2011 Jul 23. [Epub ahead of print]Response to "Role of RPB7 in RNA pol I transcription in Trypanosoma brucei"Günzl A, Park SH, Nguyen TN, Kirkham JK, Lee JH.SourceDepartment of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, 400 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-6403, USA. |
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| 3. | Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2011 Jul 23. [Epub ahead of print]Transcription by the multifunctional RNA polymerase I in Trypanosoma brucei functions independently of RPB7.Park SH, Nguyen TN, Kirkham JK, Lee JH, Günzl A.SourceDepartment of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, 400 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-6403, USA. AbstractTrypanosoma brucei has a multifunctional RNA polymerase (pol) I that transcribes ribosomal gene units (RRNA) and units encoding its major cell surface proteins variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) and procyclin. Previous analysis of tandem affinity-purified, transcriptionally active RNA pol I identified ten subunits including an apparently trypanosomatid-specific protein termed RPA31. Another ortholog was identified in silico. No orthologs of the yeast subunit doublet RPA43/RPA14 have been identified yet. Instead, a recent report presented evidence that RPB7, the RNA pol II paralog of RPA43, is an RNA pol I subunit and essential for RRNA and VSG transcription in bloodstream form trypanosomes [18]. Revisiting this attractive hypothesis, we were unable to detect a stable interaction between RPB7 and RNA pol I in either reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation or tandem affinity purification. Furthermore, immunodepletion of RPB7 from extract virtually abolished RNA pol II transcription in vitro but had no effect on RRNA or VSG ES promoter transcription in the same reactions. Accordingly, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed cross-linking of RPB7 to known RNA pol II transcription units but not to the VSG ES promoter or to the 18S rRNA coding region. Interestingly, RPB7 did crosslink to the RRNA promoter but so did the RNA pol II-specific subunit RPB9 suggesting that RNA pol II is recruited to this promoter. Overall, our data led to the conclusion that RNA pol I transcription in T. brucei does not require the RNA pol II subunit RPB7. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
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| 4. | Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2011 Jul 23. [Epub ahead of print]Role of RPB7 in RNA pol I transcription in Trypanosoma brucei.Navarro M, Peñate X, Landeira D, López-Farfán D.SourceInstituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Avda. del Conocimiento s/n, 18100 Granada, Spain. |
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| 5. | Nat Prod Commun. 2011 Jun;6(6):835-40.Chemical constituents of the new endophytic fungus Mycosphaerella sp. nov. and their anti-parasitic activity.Moreno E, Varughese T, Spadafora C, Arnold AE, Coley PD, Kursar TA, Gerwick WH, Cubilla-Rios L.SourceLaboratory of Tropical Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Exact Sciences and Technology, University of Panama, Republic of Panama. AbstractChemical investigation of a new endophytic fungus, Mycosphaerella sp. nov. strain F2140, associated with the foliage of the plant Psychotria horizontalis (Rubiaceae) in Panama, resulted in the isolation of cercosporin (1) and a new cercosporin analog (3) as the major components. The structures of minor compounds in the extract were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis as 2-(2-butyl)-6-ethyl-3-hydroxy-6-methylcyclohex-2-ene-1,5-dione (4), 3-(2-butyl)-6-ethyl-5-hydroxy-2-methoxy-6-methyl-cyclohex-2-enone (5), and an isomer of 5 (6). To study the influence of the hydroxy groups on the anti-parasitic activity of cercosporin, compound 1 was acetylated to obtain derivative 2. The isolated compounds 1- 6 were tested in vitro to determine their anti-parasitic activity against the causal agents of malaria (Plasmodium falciparum), leishmaniasis (Leishmania donovani), and Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi). Cytotoxicity and potential anticancer activity of these compounds were evaluated using mammalian Vero cells and MCF7 cancer cell lines, respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 displayed high potency against L. donovani (IC50 0.46 and 0.64 microM), T. cruzi (IC50 1.08 and 0.78 microM), P. falciparum (IC50 1.03 and 2.99 microM), and MCF7 cancer cell lines (IC50 4.68 and 3.56 microM). Compounds 3-6 were not active in these assays at a concentration of 10 microg/mL. |
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| 6. | J Biol Chem. 2011 Jun 10;286(23):20658-65. Epub 2011 Apr 6.Structural characterization and epitope mapping of the glutamic acid/alanine-rich protein from Trypanosoma congolense: defini ng assembly on the parasite cell surface.Loveless BC, Mason JW, Sakurai T, Inoue N, Razavi M, Pearson TW, Boulanger MJ.SourceDepartment of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3P6, Canada. AbstractTrypanosoma congolense is an African trypanosome that causes serious disease in cattle in Sub-Saharan Africa. The four major life cycle stages of T. congolense can be grown in vitro, which has led to the identification of several cell-surface molecules expressed on the parasite during its transit through the tsetse vector. One of these, glutamic acid/alanine-rich protein (GARP), is the first expressed on procyclic forms in the tsetse midgut and is of particular interest because it replaces the major surface coat molecule of bloodstream forms, the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) that protects the parasite membrane, and is involved in antigenic variation. Unlike VSG, however, the function of GARP is not known, which necessarily limits our understanding of parasite survival in the tsetse. Toward establishing the function of GARP, we report its three-dimensional structure solved by iodide phasing to a resolution of 1.65 Å. An extended helical bundle structure displays an unexpected and significant degree of homology to the core structure of VSG, the only other major surface molecule of trypanosomes to be structurally characterized. Immunofluorescence microscopy and immunoaffinity-tandem mass spectrometry were used in conjunction with monoclonal antibodies to map both non-surface-disposed and surface epitopes. Collectively, these studies enabled us to derive a model describing the orientation and assembly of GARP on the surface of trypanosomes. The data presented here suggest the possible structure-function relationships involved in replacement of the bloodstream form VSG by GARP as trypanosomes differentiate in the tsetse vector after a blood meal. |
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