The Leishmania amazonensis telomerase gene was cloned by a polymerase chain reaction-based strategy using primers designed from a Leishmania major sequence that shared similarities with conserved telomerase motifs. The genes from three other species were cloned for comparative purposes. A ClustalW multiple-sequence alignment demonstrated that the Leishmania telomerases show greater homology with each other than with the proteins of other kinetoplastids and eukaryotes. Characterization experiments indicated that the putative Leishmania telomerase gene was probably in single copy and located in the largest chromosomes. A single messenger ribonucleic acid transcript was found in promastigotes. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that Leishmania telomerase might represent a liaison between the oldest and the newest branches of telomerases.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-0036-4 | DOI Listing |
Molecules
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara 14800-060, SP, Brazil.
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by a protozoan of the genus Leishmania, which has visceral and cutaneous forms. The symptoms of leishmaniasis include high fever and weakness, and the cutaneous infection also causes lesions under the skin. The drugs used to treat leishmaniasis have become less effective due to the resistance mechanisms of the protozoa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Parasitol
January 2025
División de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, Unidad de Investigación UNAM-INC, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Juan Badiano No. 1, Col. Sección XVI, Ciudad de México, C.P. 14080, México.
Leishmania spp. cause a wide range of human diseases, localized skin lesions, mucocutaneous and visceral infections. In the present study, the aim was to investigate the potential role of sanguinarine as a specific inhibitor of Leishmania PP2C that can induce apoptosis in the parasite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMar Drugs
December 2024
Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias (IUETSPC), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38206 La Laguna, Spain.
One of the most important steps in preclinical drug discovery is to demonstrate the in vivo efficacy of potential leishmanicidal compounds and good characteristics at the level of parasite killing prior to initiating human clinical trials. This paper describes the use of dehydrothyrsiferol (DT), isolated from the red alga , in a pharmaceutical form supported on Sepigel, and the in vivo efficacy against a mouse model of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Studying the ultrastructural effect of DT was also carried out to verify the suspected damage at the cellular level and determine the severity of damages produced in the homeostasis of promastigotes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasit Vectors
January 2025
Laboratório de Imunologia Clínica, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21040-360, Brazil.
Background: Leishmaniases are neglected tropical diseases with great clinical and epidemiological importance. The current chemotherapy available for the treatment of leishmaniasis presents several problems, such as adverse effects, toxicity, long treatment time, and parasite resistance. The discovery of new therapeutic alternatives is extremely essential, and the discovery of cellular targets is a tool that helps in the development of new drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChem Biodivers
January 2025
University of Lille: Universite de Lille, UMR BioEcoAgro, 3 rue du Professeur Laguesse, 59800, LILLE, FRANCE.
Parasitic diseases such as trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis pose significant health challenges in Africa. The Senegalese Pharmacopoeia, known for its many medicinal plants with anti-infectious properties, can be a source of antiparasitic natural products. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro antiparasitic activities of 33 methanolic extracts from 24 ethnopharmacologically selected plants against Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Leishmania mexicana mexicana, as well as their cytotoxic activities on WI-38 cells.
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