Publications by authors named "Samuel Alexandre Pimenta-Carvalho"
Schistosoma mansoni represents a significant etiological agent of schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease with a global distribution. Although the Kato-Katz technique is an effective diagnostic tool in areas with a high prevalence of the disease, it lacks sensitivity in regions with lower prevalence. The objective of this study was to identify and validate novel immunogenic peptide targets derived from the S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccessing the Variability of Multicopy Genes in Complex Genomes using Unassembled Next-Generation Sequencing Reads: The Case of Trypanosoma cruzi Multigene Families.
mBio
December 2022
Article Synopsis
- Repetitive elements in complex eukaryotic genomes, like that of Trypanosoma cruzi (the Chagas disease parasite), lead to fragmented assembly and underestimate gene variability, particularly in multigene families responsible for host interactions.
- * Our new read-based approach estimates the variability and copy number of key multigene families (MASP, TcMUC, and Trans-Sialidase) across multiple parasite strains, revealing distinct patterns of variation and higher variability in hybrid strains.
- * The findings suggest focusing on TS antigens could enhance diagnosis and vaccine design for Chagas disease, and the methodology is adaptable for studying multicopy genes in other organisms, enabling better insights into complex genomes.
Control of human ascariasis, the most prevalent neglected tropical disease globally affecting 450 million people, mostly relies on mass drug administration of anthelmintics. However, chemotherapy alone is not efficient due to the high re-infection rate for people who live in the endemic area. The development of a vaccine that reduces the intensity of infection and maintains lower morbidity should be the primary target for infection control.
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