PUF Proteins as Critical RNA-Binding Proteins in TriTryp Parasites: A Review Article.

In eukaryotes, translation is a fundamental step in the long pathway of protein synthesis within the cell. In this process, several proteins and factors have involved directly or indirectly, individually or in association with other elements to contact mRNA. For perfect translation, many essential modifications should be done, such as cis-splicing to remove introns and two main events for capping and poly A polymerization in 5' and 3' end of mRNA, respectively.

Live attenuated-nonpathogenic and DNA structures as promising vaccine platforms against leishmaniasis: innovations can make waves.

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by the protozoan parasite of genus and is a complex disease affecting mostly tropical regions of the world. Unfortunately, despite the extensive effort made, there is no vaccine available for human use. Undoubtedly, a comprehensive understanding of the host-vector-parasite interaction is substantial for developing an effective prophylactic vaccine.

Antibiotic-Free Nanoplasmids as Promising Alternatives for Conventional DNA Vectors.

DNA vaccines with their extraordinary properties are the best choice as vectors for subunit vaccines but are not in compliance with safety regulations, mainly because of the antibiotic resistance genes on their backbone. New generations of plasmids with minimum bacterial backbones are now developed as promising alternatives to pass the safety rules and be replaced for conventional plasmids. Here we have compared the nanoplasmid (with RNA-out selection system and professional HTLV-1 containing promoter) and the conventionally used pcDNA plasmid, as regards the transfection efficiency.

Structural analysis of PpSP15 and PsSP9 sand fly salivary proteins designed with a self-cleavable linker as a live vaccine candidate against cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Background: Leishmania parasites are deposited in the host through sand fly bites along with sand fly saliva. Therefore, salivary proteins are promising vaccine candidates for controlling leishmaniasis. Herein, two immunogenic salivary proteins, PpSP15 from Phlebotomus papatasi and PsSP9 from Phlebotomus sergenti, were selected as vaccine candidates to be delivered by live Leishmania tarentolae as vector.

as Potential Live Vaccine Co-Expressing Distinct Salivary Gland Proteins Against Experimental Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in BALB/c Mice Model.

Leishmaniasis is a neglected vector-borne disease caused by parasites transmitted through the infected sand flies bite. Current treatments are limited, partly due to their high cost and significant adverse effects, and no human vaccine is yet available. Sand flies saliva has been examined for their potential application as an anti- vaccine.

Leishmania Parasite: the Impact of New Serum-Free Medium as an Alternative for Fetal Bovine Serum.

Background: Flagellated protozoan of the genus Leishmania is the causative agent of vector-borne parasitic diseases of leishmaniasis. Since the production of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins requires the cultivation of host cells in a serum-free medium, the elimination of FBS can improve the possibility of large-scale culture of Leishmania parasite. In the current study, we aimed at evaluating a new serum-free medium in Leishmania parasite culture for future live Leishmania vaccine purposes.

HCV Core/NS3 Protein Immunization with "N-Terminal Heat Shock gp96 Protein (rNT (gp96))" Induced Strong and Sustained Th1-Type Cytokines in Immunized Mice.

Feeble cellular responses induced by T cell-based vaccines are a major challenge for the development of an effective vaccine against Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. To address this challenge, the potential of N-terminal fragment of gp96 heat shock protein (rNT (gp96) as an adjuvant was evaluated and compared to that of the CpG (as a recognized Th1-type adjuvant) in the formulation of HCV core/NS3 antigens in three immunization strategies of protein/protein, DNA/DNA, and DNA/protein. Immunized mice were evaluated for elicited immune responses in week 3 (W3) and 11 post-immunizations.

Evaluation of protection induced by in vitro maturated BMDCs presenting CD8 T cell stimulating peptides after a heterologous vaccination regimen in BALB/c model against Leishmania major.

Leishmaniasis is a complex vector-borne disease mediated by Leishmania parasite and a strong and long-lasting CD4 Th1 and CD8-T cell immunity is required to control the infection. Thus far multivalent subunit vaccines have met this requirement more promisingly. However several full protein sequences cannot be easily arranged in one construct.

Th1 concomitant immune response mediated by IFN-γ protects against sand fly delivered Leishmania infection: Implications for vaccine design.

Leishmaniasis is an unresolved global health problem with a high socio-economic impact. Data generated in mouse models has revealed that the Th1 response, with IL-12, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2 as prominent cytokines, predominantly controls the disease progression. Premised on these findings, all examined vaccine formulations have been aimed at generating a long-lived memory Th1 response.

Visualization of Leishmania tropica Infection in BALB/c Mice by Bioluminescence Imaging.

Background: Leishmania tropica is the cause of more than one form of leishmaniasis and lacks a known reservoir animal. This study compares the potential infectivity of recombinant and wild-type L. tropica in BALB/c mice.

Lactococcus lactis expressing sand fly PpSP15 salivary protein confers long-term protection against Leishmania major in BALB/c mice.

Cutaneous leishmaniasisis a vector-borne disease transmitted by Leishmania infected sand flies. PpSP15 is an immunogenic salivary protein from the sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi. Immunization with PpSP15 was shown to protect against Leishmania major infection.

Comparative study of different forms of Jellein antimicrobial peptide on Leishmania parasite.

Typically, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are short positive charged peptides serving a key role in innate immunity as well as antimicrobial activity. Discovering novel therapeutic agents is considered as an undeniable demand due to increasing microbial species with antibiotic resistance. In this direction, the unique ability of AMPs to modulate immune responses highlighted them as novel drug candidates in the field of microbiology.

The outcome of arginase activity inhibition in BALB/c mice hosting Leishmania tropica.

Two species of Leishmania (L), L. tropica and L. major, are among the main causative agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Correction: Anti-leishmanial activity of Brevinin 2R and its Lauric acid conjugate type against L. major: In vitro mechanism of actions and in vivo treatment potentials.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.

Correction: DNA plasmid coding for Phlebotomus sergenti salivary protein PsSP9, a member of the SP15 family of proteins, protects against Leishmania tropica.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.

Anti-leishmanial activity of Brevinin 2R and its Lauric acid conjugate type against L. major: In vitro mechanism of actions and in vivo treatment potentials.

Leishmaniasis, as a major health problem in tropical and sub-tropical areas in the world, needs novel, safe, nontoxic and plausible therapeutic solutions for its control. As a part of innate immune system, natural antimicrobial peptides have a potential to be used as new generation of antibiotics especially after persistent resistance of conventional antimicrobial agents. Brevinin 2R, a member of Defensin families of host defense peptides, showed promising effects against bacterial and fungal infections as well as cancerous cell lines.

DNA plasmid coding for Phlebotomus sergenti salivary protein PsSP9, a member of the SP15 family of proteins, protects against Leishmania tropica.

Background: The vector-borne disease leishmaniasis is transmitted to humans by infected female sand flies, which transmits Leishmania parasites together with saliva during blood feeding. In Iran, cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is caused by Leishmania (L.) major and L.

Translating Observations From Leishmanization Into Non-Living Vaccines: The Potential of Dendritic Cell-Based Vaccination Strategies Against .

Leishmaniasis is a health-threatening vector-borne disease in almost 90 different countries. While a prophylactic human vaccine is not yet available, the fact that recovery from leishmaniasis establishes lifelong immunity against secondary infection suggests that a vaccine is attainable. In the past, deliberate infection with virulent parasites, termed Leishmanization, was used as a live-vaccine against cutaneous leishmaniasis and effectively protected against vector-transmitted disease in endemic areas.

Human Neutrophil Peptide 1 as immunotherapeutic agent against Leishmania infected BALB/c mice.

Human Neutrophil Peptide 1 (HNP1) produced by neutrophils, is a well-known antimicrobial peptide which plays a role both in innate as well as in adaptive immunity and is under intensive investigation as a potential therapeutic agent. Previous in vitro experiments have indicated the leishmaniacidal effect of recombinant HNP1 on Leishmania major (L. major) promastigotes and amastigotes.

Live Leishmania tarentolae secreting HNP1 as an immunotherapeutic tool against Leishmania infection in BALB/c mice.

Aim: Several disadvantages about chemotherapy for leishmaniasis has reinforced discovery of novel therapeutic agents especially immunotherapeutics. HNP1, as a member of the mammalian antimicrobial peptides family, is an attractive molecule due to its broad functional spectrum. Here, the in vivo potency of HNP1 in transgenic Leishmania tarentolae as an immunotherapy tool against Leishmania major-infected BALB/c mice was examined.

Optimization of the Timing of Induction for the Assessment of Nitric Oxide Production in Infected Macrophage Cells.

Background: The present study was conducted to investigate the optimized timing for macrophages induction and nitric oxide (NO) production against invading parasite.

Methods: The present study examined the murine macrophage cell line, B10R, in three different states. In the first state, the cells were first infected with and then treated with IFN-γ and LPS as stimulants.

Mammalian host defense peptides and their implication on combating Leishmania infection.

Infection with parasites of the genus Leishmania is a health problem in many countries around the world. No effective vaccine is available against leishmaniasis, so chemotherapy is the only alternative for treatment of all forms of the disease. However, drawbacks including toxicity and severe adverse reactions restrain the use of currently available chemotherapeutics.

Leishmania-based expression systems.

Production of therapeutic or medical recombinant proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies, proteins, or active enzymes, requires a highly efficient system allowing natural folding and perfect post-translation modifications of the expressed protein. These requirements lead to the generation of a variety of gene expression systems from bacteria to eukaryotes. To achieve the best form of eukaryotic proteins, two factors need to be taken into consideration: choosing a suitable organism to express the protein of interest, and selecting an efficient delivery system.

Cloning, expression and purification of the factor H binding protein and its interaction with factor H.

Background And Objective: Neisseria meningitidis is a leading cause of meningitis and sepsis worldwide. The factor H binding protein (fHBP) is a key virulence factor of Neisseria meningitidis that is able to selectively bind to human factor H, the key regulator of the alternative complement pathway, which it has important implications for meningococcal pathogenesis and vaccine design. The aims of present research were cloning, expression, purification of fHbp and confirmation of the interaction between serum factor H (fH) and produced factor H binding protein.

Post-Genomics and Vaccine Improvement for Leishmania.

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that primarily affects Asia, Africa, South America, and the Mediterranean basin. Despite extensive efforts to develop an effective prophylactic vaccine, no promising vaccine is available yet. However, recent advancements in computational vaccinology on the one hand and genome sequencing approaches on the other have generated new hopes in vaccine development.