What's new for 'Trypanosomatids' in PubMed

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Sent on Saturday, 2011 Nov 05
Search kinetoplastids OR kinetoplastid OR Kinetoplastida OR "trypanosoma brucei" OR leishmania OR brucei OR leishmaniasis OR "African trypanosomiasis"
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1.	Biol Chem. 2011 Dec;392(12):1113-22. Cloning, expression, characterization and inhibition studies on trypanothione synthetase, a drug target enzyme, from Leishmania donovani. Saudagar P, Dubey VK. Source Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam-781039, India. Abstract Abstract Trypanothione synthetase, a validated drug target, synthesizes trypanothione from glutathione and spermidine. Here we report the gene cloning, expression, characterization and inhibition studies of trypanothione synthetase from Leishmania donovani (LdTryS). The purified recombinant LdTryS enzyme obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. High substrate inhibition was observed with glutathione (K(m)=33.24 μm, k(cat)=1.3 s(-1), K(i)=866 μm). The enzyme shows simple hyperbolic kinetics with fixed glutathione concentration and with other substrates limiting K(m) values for Mg. ATP and spermidine of 14.2 μm and 139.6 μm, respectively. LdTryS was also screened for inhibitors. Tomatine, conessine, uvaol and betulin were identified as inhibitors of the enzyme and were tested for leishmanicidal activity. Finally, the effect of LdTryS inhibitors on redox homeostasis of the parasite gives a broader picture of their action against leishmaniasis.
	PMID: 22050226 [PubMed - in process]
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2.	Epidemics. 2009 Sep;1(3):162-7. Epub 2009 May 28. The vicious circle and infection intensity: the case of Trypanosoma microti in field vole populations. Beldomenico PM, Telfer S, Gebert S, Lukomski L, Bennett M, Begon M. Source School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, UK. pbeldome@fcv.unl.edu.ar Abstract OBJECTIVE: In natural populations, infection and condition may act synergistically to trigger a vicious circle: poor condition predisposes to host infections, which further reduce condition, and so on. If this vicious circle originates from a reduced resistance to infection, it will not only result in greater proneness to becoming infected of those that are in poorer condition, but it may also cause infections of higher intensity. Here, we investigate the temporal relationship between host condition and intensity of infection by a specific pathogen using as a system the dynamics of the protozoan Trypanosoma microti in field vole (Microtus agrestis) populations. METHODS AND RESULTS: With two years of longitudinal data from three monthly-sampled populations, we evaluated if individuals acquiring a high intensity of infection previously had lower haematological indicators of condition (red blood cells [RBCs] and lymphocyte counts) than those that acquired lower infection intensities. Also, the association of these indicators with past and present trypanosome blood levels was investigated. The individuals that developed high levels of parasitaemia were those that previously had low lymphocyte counts. Greater intensity of infection corresponded with lower RBCs only in low to moderate weight females, and no effect of intensity of infection on lymphocyte counts was observed. However, delayed effects of high trypanosome intensity were seen on both RBCs and lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS: The vicious circle may also result in high infection intensity: individuals in poor condition are not only more likely to become infected by one pathogen; they may also be the most important source of infection for that and for other pathogens, and thus key protagonists for parasite dynamics.
	PMID: 21352763 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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