African trypanosomiasis (AT), also known as sleeping sickness in humans and Nagana in animals, is a disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei. AT is an extremely debilitating disease in human, cattle, and wild animals, and the treatment is difficult with frequent relapses. This work shows that BALB-c mice immunized intramuscularly with a single dose (100 microg) of a plasmid DNA encoding the 5'-terminal region of the trans-sialidase (nTSA) gene of T. brucei brucei are able to produce IgG antibodies that bind to the bloodstream form of T. brucei-protein extract and recognize the recombinant nTSA protein, expressed in Escherichia coli. Furthermore, this DNA vaccination process was able to protect 60% of mice submitted to a challenge assay with the infective form of T. brucei brucei parasites. These results demonstrate that a DNA vaccine coding for trans-sialidase from T. brucei is potentially useful in the prophylaxis of AT.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00436-009-1542-6 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
3'-deoxytubercidin: A potent therapeutic candidate for the treatment of Surra and Dourine.
Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist
January 2025
Laboratory of Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, Infla-Med Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium. Electronic address:
Surra and Dourine are widespread diseases caused by two protozoan parasites Trypanosoma brucei evansi and Trypanosoma brucei equiperdum, respectively. A wide range of animals including camels, horses, cattle and buffaloes are susceptible to infection. These diseases pose a significant socio-economic burden, primarily due to the limited therapeutic options and the complications associated with toxicity and drug resistance, making disease management particularly challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntiparasitic Activities of Plants from the Traditional Senegalese Pharmacopoeia: Isolation of Antitrypanosomal and Antileishmanial ellagic acid derivatives from Terminalia avicennioides.
Chem 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanopore sequencing reveals that DNA replication compartmentalisation dictates genome stability and instability in Trypanosoma brucei.
Nat Commun
January 2025
University of Glasgow Centre for Parasitology, The Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, University of Glasgow, School of Infection and Immunity, Sir Graeme Davies Building, 120 University Place, Glasgow, G12 8TA, United Kingdom.
The Trypanosoma brucei genome is structurally complex. Eleven megabase-sized chromosomes each comprise a transcribed core flanked by silent subtelomeres, housing thousands of Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) genes. Additionally, hundreds of sub-megabase chromosomes contain 177 bp repeats of unknown function, and VSG transcription sites localise to many telomeres.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFManipulation of mitochondrial poly(A) polymerase family proteins in impacts mRNA termini processing.
Front Parasitol
January 2024
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN, United States.
RNA-specific nucleotidyltransferases (rNTrs) add nontemplated nucleotides to the 3 end of RNA. Two noncanonical rNTRs that are thought to be poly(A) polymerases (PAPs) have been identified in the mitochondria of trypanosomes - KPAP1 and KPAP2. KPAP1 is the primary polymerase that adds adenines (As) to trypanosome mitochondrial mRNA 3 tails, while KPAP2 is a non-essential putative polymerase whose role in the mitochondria is ambiguous.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStructural basis of Spliced Leader RNA recognition by the Trypanosoma brucei cap-binding complex.
Nat Commun
January 2025
EMBL Grenoble, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France.
Kinetoplastids are a clade of eukaryotic protozoans that include human parasitic pathogens like trypanosomes and Leishmania species. In these organisms, protein-coding genes are transcribed as polycistronic pre-mRNAs, which need to be processed by the coupled action of trans-splicing and polyadenylation to yield monogenic mature mRNAs. During trans-splicing, a universal RNA sequence, the spliced leader RNA (SL RNA) mini-exon, is added to the 5'-end of each mRNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!