Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Koushik Das, Tomoyoshi Nozaki
Summary: Eukaryotic cells have membrane-enclosed organelles that have distinct functions and characteristics. The distribution and movement of lipids and proteins play a crucial role in determining the identity of each organelle. Studying lipid transport mechanisms in protists, such as Leishmania donovani, can contribute to our understanding of parasitism and eukaryotic evolution. Through bioinformatics analysis, we identified potential lipid transfer proteins in L. donovani and discussed their implications in parasite biology and potential therapeutic targets against visceral leishmaniasis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Noelie Douanne, George Dong, Atia Amin, Lorena Bernardo, Mathieu Blanchette, David Langlais, Martin Olivier, Christopher Fernandez-Prada
Summary: This study investigates the DNA content of Leishmania extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their role in DNA transfer. It is found that drug-resistant EVs carry amplicons associated with drug-resistance genes. Transfer experiments demonstrate that the transferred DNA significantly impacts the phenotype of recipient parasites, enhancing their growth and ability to withstand oxidative stress. These findings provide evidence for the important role of eukaryotic EVs in horizontal gene transfer and adaptation to stressful environments.
Article
Microbiology
Bart Cuypers, Pieter Meysman, Ionas Erb, Wout Bittremieux, Dirk Valkenborg, Geert Baggerman, Inge Mertens, Shyam Sundar, Basudha Khanal, Cedric Notredame, Jean-Claude Dujardin, Malgorzata A. Domagalska, Kris Laukens
Summary: Aneuploidy has a significant impact on the transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome of Leishmania donovani, leading to disruptions in stochiometric balances and metabolic differences between aneuploid strains. However, protein complex subunits and non-cytoplasmic proteins show attenuations in dosage effects. The differentially expressed proteins are enriched for those involved in protein metabolism. These findings suggest that aneuploidy in Leishmania can be adaptive and make it an attractive model for studying protein homeostasis in the context of aneuploidy.
Article
Immunology
Jianhui Zhang, Jiao Li, Kaifeng Hu, Qi Zhou, Xiaoxiao Chen, Jinlei He, Shuangshuang Yin, Yangjian Chi, Xuechun Liao, Yuying Xiao, Hanxiao Qin, Zhiwan Zheng, Jianping Chen
Summary: This study identified differentially expressed proteins in two Leishmania donovani strains using proteomics analysis and identified potential vaccine candidates through immunoinformatics analysis. The results suggest that these candidates have the potential for intervention against visceral leishmaniasis.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aretha Chan, Jose-Mauricio Ayala, Fernando Alvarez, Ciriaco Piccirillo, George Dong, David Langlais, Martin Olivier
Summary: This study analyzed the early innate inflammatory events during L. major infection, confirming the significant role of the virulence factor GP63 in providing favorable conditions for host cell infection. The data suggest that GP63 does not greatly influence pathogen-induced inflammatory cell recruitment, but rather affects their activation status and effector function, as well as potentially influencing the internalization of promastigotes during early infection.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fernanda V. Cabral, Michela Cerone, Saydulla Persheyev, Cheng Lian, Ifor D. W. Samuel, Martha S. Ribeiro, Terry K. Smith
Summary: The emergence of drug resistance in cutaneous leishmaniasis has become a major problem. Photodynamic therapy has shown effectiveness against drug-resistant strains and may be an attractive strategy for treatment.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hermali Silva, Achala Liyanage, Theja Deerasinghe, Vasana Chandrasekara, Kalaivani Chellappan, Nadira D. Karunaweera
Summary: This study is the first detailed investigation of treatment failures in CL in Sri Lanka, revealing a relatively high rate of treatment failure especially in patients over 20 years old. It underscores the importance of further research into the pathogenesis of treatment failures and the need to review existing treatment protocols to introduce more effective strategies.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Narender Goel, Vivek Kumar Gupta, Aakriti Garg, Arpita Bhoumik, Raju Biswas, Ramalingam Natarajan, Hemanta K. Majumder, Parasuraman Jaisankar
Summary: Holanamine isolated from Holarrhena pubescens showed significant antileishmanial activity against Leishmania donovani, better than the standard drug miltefosine. It inhibited LdToP1B enzyme without affecting human topoisomerase, and its antileishmanial activity is attributed to hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions with the enzyme. Holanamine induced apoptotic-like cell death in Leishmania by generating reactive oxygen species and disrupting mitochondrial membrane potential.
ACS INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Jared T. Hammill, Vitaliy M. Sviripa, Liliia M. Kril, Diana Ortiz, Corinne M. Fargo, Ho Shin Kim, Yizhe Chen, Jonah Rector, Amy L. Rice, Malgorzata A. Domagalska, Kristin L. Begley, Chunming Liu, Vivek M. Rangnekar, Jean-Claude Dujardin, David S. Watt, Scott M. Landfear, R. Kiplin Guy
Summary: Leishmaniasis, a disease affecting roughly 12 million individuals globally, is caused by protozoa of the Leishmania species. Most existing drugs for leishmaniasis are toxic, expensive, difficult to administer, and prone to drug resistance. The new class of antileishmanial leads, 3-arylquinolines, show promise in blocking parasite proliferation with good selectivity relative to host cells. Early leads like 34 and 27 demonstrate potent activity against different Leishmania species and potential for drug development.
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Andreza do Socorro Silva da Veiga, Fernando Tobias Silveira, Edilene Oliveira da Silva, Jose Antonio Picanco Diniz Junior, Sanderson Correa Araujo, Marliane Batista Campos, Andrey Moacir do Rosario Marinho, Geraldo Celio Brandao, Valdicley Vieira Vale, Sandro Percario, Maria Fani Dolabela
Summary: This study evaluated the morphological changes caused by fractions and subfractions obtained from barks of Aspidosperna nitidum against L. (L.) amazonensis promastigotes. The results suggest that alkaloids isolated from A. nitidum show potential as leishmanicidal agents. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed changes in the parasites' morphology after treatment with the active fractions.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kavita Vats, Rati Tandon, Roshanara, Mirza. A. Beg, Rosa M. Corrales, Akila Yagoubat, Enam Reyaz, Tasaduq. H. Wani, Mirza. S. Baig, Ashok Chaudhury, Anuja Krishnan, Niti Puri, Poonam Salotra, Yvon Sterkers, Angamuthu Selvapandiyan
Summary: This study investigates the function of Centrin4 and its binding protein LdPOC in the protozoan parasite Leishmania. The results show that Centrin4 interacts with LdPOC and localizes at the basal bodies, playing a role in parasite growth and cell division. This is the first report on the study of Centrin4 and its binding protein in protozoan parasites.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Patrick Lypaczewski, Lovlesh Thakur, Aklank Jain, Sandhya Kumari, Kayla Paulini, Greg Matlashewski, Manju Jain
Summary: Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease with two main types: cutaneous and visceral. Most visceral cases occur in the Indian subcontinent and East Africa due to Leishmania donovani. However, recent outbreaks of cutaneous leishmaniasis in India, such as in Himachal Pradesh, have been found to be caused by atypical phenotypes of L. donovani. Genetic analysis revealed that the strain in Himachal Pradesh is a hybrid of two independent L. donovani parasites from the ISC1 clade, found in the Nepalese highlands.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Barbara Dominguez-Asenjo, Camino Gutierrez-Corbo, Yolanda Perez-Pertejo, Salvador Iborra, Rafael Balana-Fouce, Rosa M. Reguera
Summary: Recent years have seen a significant advancement in the search for new drugs against neglected parasitic diseases through the incorporation of bioimaging techniques. One particular focus has been on visceral leishmaniasis, with efforts towards finding new therapeutic solutions for this neglected disease.
ACS INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hyeryon Lee, Kyung-Hwa Baek, Trong-Nhat Phan, I. Seul Park, Sangchul Lee, Jiho Kim, Joo Hwan No
Summary: This study identified a potential drug target for visceral leishmaniasis and identified small molecule inhibitors with anti-leishmanial activity.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Sandeep Verma, Deepak Kumar Deep, Poonam Gautam, Ruchi Singh, Poonam Salotra
Summary: Visceral leishmaniasis is a potentially fatal disease caused by Leishmania donovani infection, primarily treated with chemotherapy. Research on molecular interactions at the host-parasite interface may help identify critical factors in disease development.
Article
Parasitology
Gabriela Martinez Moura Tavares, Hannar Angelica de Melo Alverga, Estela Moraes Felix, Giovana de Oliveira Dichman, Gabriel Monteiro Pinheiro, Yara Juliano, Priscila Paruci, Dennis Minoru Fujita, Lucas Melo Neves, Marina Tiemi Shio, Luiz Henrique da Silva Nali
Summary: This study investigated the frequency of N. gonorrhoeae infection in women in a poor area of São Paulo and found that most of the strains detected showed resistance to one or more antimicrobials.
Article
Parasitology
Qian Yao, Ying-Ying Fan, Shuang Huang, Gui-Rong Hu, Jun-Ke Song, Xin Yang, Guang-Hui Zhao
Summary: This study found that the expression of miR-4521 was upregulated during C. parvum infection, and this upregulation was related to the TLR/NF-kappa B signal pathway. Additionally, miR-4521 promoted the propagation of C. parvum in HCT-8 cells by regulating BCL2-mediated cell apoptosis through targeting foxm1.
Article
Parasitology
Cho Naing, Maxine A. Whittaker, Wong Siew Tung, Htar Aung, Joon Wah Mak
Summary: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of zoonotic brugian filariasis in animals and compare it with the prevalence in humans in the same area. The findings suggest that cats, dogs, and leaf-eating monkeys may serve as potential reservoirs for human brugian filariasis.
Review
Parasitology
Raissa Nogueira de Brito, Susan Tanner, Julie Velasquez Runk, Juliana Hoyos
Summary: This study conducted a scoping review to identify major research themes and knowledge gaps in the social science literature on leishmaniases or Chagas disease. The findings showed that research in this field mainly focuses on the sociocultural, economic, historical, and political dimensions of the diseases. Future research should pay more attention to how social institutions and economic factors shape disease education, control measures, healthcare access, and quality of life of affected individuals.
Article
Parasitology
Minghao Zheng, Mengyao Zhang, Hao Li, Shipo Wu, Yuee Zhao, Jinlong Zhang, Yunyue Zhou, Mohamed Boie Jalloh, Kun Zhang, Lina Chen, Zhiqiang Mi, Yong Cui, Lihua Hou
Summary: Rapid and convenient detection of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite in Africa, is crucial for malaria eradication efforts in medical resource-limited settings. A CRISPR-based diagnostic method that can detect P. falciparum without nucleic acid extraction was developed and showed high sensitivity and consistency with qPCR test. It can also detect artemisinin-resistant strains and other laboratory-cultured strains. This method has great potential for clinical testing and large-scale community screening in Africa and other regions.
Article
Parasitology
Fabian Correa-Morales, Cassandra Gonzalez-Acosta, David Ibarra-Ojeda, Miguel Moreno-Garcia
Summary: Since 2002, West Nile Virus (WNV) has been reported in 18 states in Mexico. This paper discusses the proposed hypotheses for the absence of WNV outbreaks in Latin America and provides a context-specific explanation for Mexico.
Article
Parasitology
Umberto Molini, Lauren M. Coetzee, Vernon Christians, Maria Y. Hemberger, Bernard Chiwome, Maria Amukwaya, Siegfried Khaiseb, Giovanni Cattoli, William G. Dundon, Giovanni Franzo
Summary: Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV-3) has been reported globally since its first identification in 2015. Limited data on PCV-3 in Africa led to a study in Namibia, which found a high prevalence of PCV-3 in backyard piggeries, but not in commercial farms with higher biosecurity measures. The source of viral introduction and factors such as semen importation, feeding backyard pigs with human food waste, pig exchanges, and wildlife movements may be involved in the dispersal of PCV-3 within Namibia. Further studies are needed to understand the epidemiology and impact of PCV-3 on pig productivity and wildlife health.
Article
Parasitology
Chutchai Piewbang, Panida Poonsin, Pattiya Lohavicharn, Panitnan Punyathi, Sawang Kesdangsakonwut, Tanit Kasantikul, Somporn Techangamsuwan
Summary: This study provides insights into the pathology of natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in dogs, revealing severe damage to the lungs and involvement of multiple organs. The findings suggest the potential utility of dogs as a model for studying SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans, highlighting the need for further investigation.
Article
Parasitology
Julian Avila-Jimenez, Juan David Gutierrez, Mariano Altamiranda-Saavedra
Summary: Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted to humans by sandfly vectors and vertebrate hosts. This study used ecological niche modeling to investigate the potential distribution of host and vector species associated with cutaneous leishmaniasis transmission, revealing different distribution patterns under varying climatic conditions.
Article
Parasitology
Luis A. Gomez-Puerta, Juan Olazabal, Santiago Paredes, Juan Lopez, Miguel Anampa, Angelica Mondragon, Ana Vargas-Calla, Hugo Castillo
Summary: This study reports the first detection of Candidatus M. haemolamae infection in vicunas from the Pampa Galeras National Reserve in Peru, using molecular diagnosis. Tick-infested vicunas had a higher likelihood of being infected with Candidatus M. haemolamae compared to tick-free vicunas. Gender and age were not associated with infection.
Article
Parasitology
Berlin Londono-Renteria, Zakaria Seidu, Helena Lamptey, Michael F. Ofori, Lars Hviid, Mary Lopez-Perez
Summary: Heterozygous carriers of HbAS and HbAC have a reduced risk of severe malaria, but not immunity against Plasmodium falciparum infection. Antibody levels against gSG6-P1 peptide in Anopheles mosquito saliva can serve as a serological biomarker for exposure to Plasmodium infection. This study highlights the importance of studying the role of hemoglobinopathies in malaria transmission for improving control interventions.
Article
Parasitology
Imane Belbacha, Meryem El Azzouzi, Rajae Bensghir, Kamal Filali Marhoum, Khadija Hajjout, El Mir Elharti, Khalid Sadki, Hicham Oumzil
Summary: This study investigates the association of three SNPs in the APOBEC3G gene with disease outcomes in Moroccan HIV-1 infected patients. The rs2294367 CG genotype is strongly associated with protection against HIV-1 infection, particularly in older individuals.
Article
Parasitology
Tan Luong, Do Kien Tran, Anh Hung Pham, Thi Thu-Ha Hoang, Van Khang Pham, Quang Thai Pham, Thi Mai Hung Tran, Minh Hoa Luong, Thanh Long Pham, Jason K. Blackburn
Summary: This study examined the epidemiology of anthrax in Lai Chau province, Vietnam, using historical data. Spatial clusters of human and livestock anthrax were identified, and the characteristics of the disease were described. The study found that there were distinct differences between the high-risk areas for human and livestock anthrax, and most human cases occurred during specific seasons. Additionally, the decrease in livestock anthrax vaccine coverage was associated with an increase in disease incidence.
Article
Parasitology
Jin-tao Chen, Jian-bo Zhan, Ming-chao Zhu, Kai-ji Li, Man-qing Liu, Bin Hu, Kun Cai, Hai-rong Xiong, Shu-liang Chen, Wei-long Tan, Liang-jun Chen, Wei Hou
Summary: This study investigated the prevalence and variation of orthohantavirus in rodents and humans in Hubei province, China. It identified the diversity of orthohantaviruses circulating in the region, with the HV004-like subtype being the main genotype in rodents and patients. This highlights the importance of continued attention and research on orthohantaviruses, especially newly identified strains.
