What's new for 'Trypanosomatids' in PubMed

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Sent on Thursday, 2012 March 22
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 - 7 of 7

1.	Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2012 Mar 21. [Epub ahead of print] A Reverse Vaccinology Approach for the Identification of Potential Vaccine Candidates from Leishmania spp. John L, John GJ, Kholia T. Source Department of Bioinformatics, Christ College, Rajkot, 360005, Gujarat, India. Abstract Leishmaniasis is a group of diseases with a spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from cutaneous ulcers to visceral leishmaniasis, which results from the bite of an infected sandfly to human. Attempts to develop an effective vaccine have been shown to be feasible but no vaccine is in active clinical use. This study adopts a Reverse Vaccinology approach to identify common vaccine candidates from both highly pathogenic species Leishmania major and Leishmania infantum. Total proteome of both species were compared to identify common proteins, which are further taken for sub-cellular localization and transmembrane helices prediction. Plasma membrane proteins having only one transmembrane helix were first identified and analyzed which are non-homologous in human and mouse in order to avoid molecular mimicry with other proteins. Selected proteins were analyzed for their binding efficiency to both major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and class II alleles. As a result, 19 potential epitopes are screened in this study using different approaches, which can be further verified through in vivo experiments in MHC compatible animal models. This study demonstrates that Reverse Vaccinology approach has potential in discovering various immunogenic antigens from in silico analysis of pathogen's genome or proteome instead of culturing the whole organism by conventional methods.
	PMID: 22434357 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

2.	Acta Derm Venereol. 2012 Mar 20. doi: 10.2340/00015555-1338. [Epub ahead of print] Cutaneous and Mucocutaneous Leishmaniasis Resembling Borderline-tuberculoid Leprosy: A New Clinical Presentation? Dassoni F, Abebe Z, Naafs B, Morrone A. Source Department of Dermatology, National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP), IT-00153 Rome, Italy. E-mail: federica.dx@gmail.com. Abstract Both cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis are endemic in Northern Ethiopia. The different clinical presentations depend on the responsible organism and the host's immune response. Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis is the type most frequently seen. Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis is relatively rare and usually associated with mucous membrane involvement. Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis presents with multiple lesions, can be difficult to diagnose and responds less favourably to treatment. We report here 2 patients with unusual presentations of diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis presenting with large hypopigmented skin lesions mimicking borderline-tuberculoid leprosy. To our knowledge this presentation has not been described before and may present difficulties in making a definite diagnosis in regions where both leprosy and cutaneous leishmaniasis are endemic. Lepromatous leprosy and diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis are regularly confused, particularly when no skin smears for acid-fast bacillus or Leishman-Donovan bodies are performed.
	PMID: 22434112 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

3.	Trop Biomed. 2011 Dec;28(3):471-81. Targeting calcium homeostasis as the therapy of Chagas' disease and leishmaniasis - a review. Gustavo B, Célia RS. Source Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA), Carretera Nacional Hoyo de la Puerta, Baruta, Caracas, Venezuela. Abstract Ca(2+) has been largely recognized as an essential messenger in all eukaryotes, from mammals to parasites. The disruption of Ca(2+) homeostasis in any cell usually drives to lethal effects resulting in cell death by apoptosis or necrosis. This appears also to be the case in human trypanosomatids, such as Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease, Trypanosoma brucei, which produces "sleeping sickness" and Leishmania sp, responsible for leishmaniasis. The aim of this review is to describe the intracellular Ca(2+) regulation and the cytotoxic effect of new drugs regarding the disruption of Ca(2+) homeostasis in these parasites. With regard to intracellular Ca(2+) regulation, all these trypanosomatids possess a single mitochondrion that occupies 12% of the total volume of the parasite which is able to accumulate large amounts of Ca(2+). The endoplasmic reticulum is also involved in Ca(2+) regulation. These parasites also possess acidocalcisomes, an unusual organelle involved in the bioenergetics of these cells in accumulating large amounts of polyphosphates together with Ca(2+) ions. Trypanosomatids possess relatively large amounts of calmodulin. While this well conserved protein is identical among all vertebrates, there is 89% amino acid sequence identity between T. cruzi and vertebrate calmodulin. Recently, this protein has been cloned and expressed from T. cruzi, allowing a further characterization corroborating significant differences between calmodulin from T. cruzi and mammals. It has also been reported that a commonly used antiarrhytmic, amiodarone, which is used in chronic Chagas' patients with heart problems, is able to produce a large trypanocidal effect. The intracellular compartments responsible for the increase in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) upon the addition of amiodarone are the single large mitochondrion and the acidocalcisomes. Amiodarone is also capable to inhibit the oxidosqualene cyclase, a key enzyme in the synthesis of ergosterol. The effect of amiodarone was highly synergistic with posaconazole, a known potent inhibitor of the synthesis of ergosterol. Interestingly, posaconazole by itself is able to produce an increase in the [Ca(2+)](i). Concerning putative treatments in humans, amiodarone was reported to induce the cure of a patient with Chagas' disease, when used in combination with itraconazole. Seemingly, a recent case indicated the cure of a patient with Chagas' disease by the administration of posaconazole. Miltefosine, an orally active alkyl-lysophospholipid with potent anti-Leishmania activity, represents a major advance in the treatment of leishmaniasis. Recently it was reported that miltefosine also disrupts the parasite's intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis, by inducing a large increase in [Ca(2+)](i), through the activation of a plasma membrane Ca(2+) channel. It has been found that the combination of miltefosine and amiodarone have synergistic effects on the proliferation of amastigotes growing inside macrophages and this led to 90% of parasitological cure in a murine model of leishmaniasis, as revealed by a PCR assay. More recently, posaconazole has been used successfully in a case of a human Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis. All these findings strongly suggest that the alteration of the intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis of these parasites is a promising strategy as a target of new as well as repurposed old-known drugs.
	PMID: 22433874 [PubMed - in process]

4.	Euro Surveill. 2012 Mar 8;17(10). pii: 20111. Human African trypanosomiasis in a Belgian traveller returning from the Masai Mara area, Kenya, February 2012. Clerinx J, Vlieghe E, Asselman V, Van de Casteele S, Maes M, Lejon V. Source Department of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
	PMID: 22433595 [PubMed - in process]

5.	Euro Surveill. 2012 Mar 8;17(10). pii: 20114. Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infection in a German traveller returning from the Masai Mara area, Kenya, January 2012. Wolf T, Wichelhaus T, Gottig S, Kleine C, Brodt H, Just-Nuebling G. Source Department of Internal Medicine 2 - Infectious Diseases, Hospital of the J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
	PMID: 22433594 [PubMed - in process]

6.	Euro Surveill. 2012 Mar 8;17(10). pii: 20109. Human African trypanosomiasis in travellers to Kenya. Gobbi F, Bisoffi Z. Source Centro per le Malattie tropicali, Ospedale Sacro Cuore-Don Calabria, Negrar, Verona, Italy.
	PMID: 224335 93 [PubMed - in process]

7.	Curr Opin Microbiol. 2011 Dec;14(6):642-8. Epub 2011 Oct 21. Social parasites. Lopez MA, Nguyen HT, Oberholzer M, Hill KL. Source Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Abstract Protozoan parasites cause tremendous human suffering worldwide, but strategies for therapeutic intervention are limited. Recent studies illustrate that the paradigm of microbes as social organisms can be brought to bear on questions about parasite biology, transmission and pathogenesis. This review discusses recent work demonstrating adaptation of social behaviors by parasitic protozoa that cause African sleeping sickness and malaria. The recognition of social behavior and cell-cell communication as a ubiquitous property of bacteria has transformed our view of microbiology, but protozoan parasites have not generally been considered in this context. Works discussed illustrate the potential for concepts of sociomicrobiology to provide insight into parasite biology and should stimulate new approaches for thinking about parasites and parasite-host interactions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. PMCID: PMC3230740 [Available on 2012/12/1]
	PMID: 22020108 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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