Histone deacetylases inhibitors as new potential drugs against Leishmania braziliensis, the main causative agent of new world tegumentary leishmaniasis.

The protozoan parasite Leishmania braziliensis is a major causative agent of the neglected tropical diseases Cutaneous and Mucocutaneous Leishmaniases in the New World. There are no vaccines to prevent the infection and the treatment relies on few drugs that often display high toxicity and costs. Thus, chemotherapeutic alternatives are required.

Achievement of constitutive fluorescent pLEXSY-egfp Leishmania braziliensis and its application as an alternative method for drug screening in vitro.

Background: Gene reporter-fluorescent cells have emerged as alternative method for drug screening.

Objective: Achievement of constitutive expression of fluorescent protein GFP by Leishmania braziliensis as alternative method for drug screening.

Methods: L.

Leishmania infantum ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-2 is an apyrase involved in macrophage infection and expressed in infected dogs.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis is an important tropical disease, and Leishmania infantum chagasi (synonym of Leishmania infantum) is the main pathogenic agent of visceral leishmaniasis in the New World. Recently, ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (E-NTPDases) were identified as enablers of infection and virulence factors in many pathogens. Two putative E-NTPDases (∼70 kDa and ∼45 kDa) have been found in the L.

Trypanosoma cruzi nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1 (TcNTPDase-1) biochemical characterization, immunolocalization and possible role in host cell adhesion.

Previous work has suggested that Trypanosoma cruzi diphosphohydrolase 1 (TcNTPDase-1) may be involved in the infection of mammalian cells and serve as a potential target for rational drug design. In this work, we produced recombinant TcNTPDase-1 and evaluated its nucleotidase activity, cellular localization and role in parasite adhesion to mammalian host cells. TcNTPDase-1 was able to utilize a broad range of triphosphate and diphosphate nucleosides.