The proteasome, a large non-lysosomal multi-subunit protease complex, is ubiquitous in eukaryotic cells. In protozoan parasites, the proteasome is involved in cell differentiation and replication, and could therefore be a promising therapeutic target. This article reviews the present knowledge of proteasomes in protozoan parasites of medical importance such as Giardia, Entamoeba, Leishmania, Trypanosoma, Plasmodium and Toxoplasma spp.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1471-4922(02)00064-8 | DOI Listing |
Microtubule-severing enzymes play essential roles in regulating diverse cellular processes, including mitosis and cytokinesis, by modulating microtubule dynamics. In the early branching protozoan parasite , microtubule-severing enzymes are involved in cytokinesis and flagellum length control during different life cycle stages, but none of them have been found to regulate mitosis in any life cycle form. Here, we report the biochemical and functional characterization of the microtubule-severing enzyme spastin in the procyclic form of .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExp Parasitol
January 2025
Department of Medical Zoology, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea; Medical Research Center for Bioreaction to Reactive Oxygen Species and Biomedical Science Institute, Core Research Institute (CRI), Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease affecting a significant portion of the global population, whose etiology can be attributed to the protozoan organism Toxoplasma gondii. Despite its public health importance, an efficacious vaccine to prevent human toxoplasmosis remains unavailable. To this end, we designed an experimental toxoplasmosis vaccine using recombinant vaccinia virus vectors (rVacv) expressing the T.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Plasmodium, the causative agents of malaria, are obtained by mosquitoes from an infected human. Following Plasmodium acquisition by Anopheles gambiae, mosquito gamma-interferon-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase (mosGILT) plays a critical role in its subsequent sporogony in the mosquito. A critical location for this development is the midgut, a tissue we show expresses mosGILT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
December 2024
Neurofarba Department, Section of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Florence, Via Ugo Schiff 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Florence, Italy.
, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, is a protozoan parasite capable of infecting a wide range of hosts, posing significant health risks, particularly to immunocompromised individuals and congenital transmission. Current therapeutic options primarily target the active tachyzoite stage but are limited by issues such as toxicity and incomplete efficacy. As a result, there is an urgent need for alternative therapies that can selectively target parasite-specific mechanisms critical for metabolic processes and host-parasite interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
December 2024
Departamento de Infectómica y Patogénesis Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City 07360, Mexico.
Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) is an enzyme that produces monomethyl arginine (MMA) and symmetric dimethyl arginine (sDMA), post-translational modifications that regulate several cellular processes, including stage conversion in parasitic protozoans. , the etiologic agent of human amebiasis, has two stages in its life cycle, the trophozoite, which is the replicative form, and the cyst, corresponding to the infective phase. The study of the molecular mechanisms that regulate differentiation in this parasite has been overdue because of a lack of efficient protocols for in vitro encystment.
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