New opportunities have raised to study the gene function approaches of Trypanosoma cruzi after its genome sequencing in 2005. Functional genomic approaches in Trypanosoma cruzi are challenging due to the reduced tools available for genetic manipulation, as well as to the reduced efficiency of the transient transfection conducted through conventional methods. The Amaxa nucleofector device was systematically tested in the present study in order to improve the electroporation conditions in the epimastigote forms of T. cruzi. The transfection efficiency was quantified using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as reporter gene followed by cell survival assessment. The herein used nucleofection parameters have increased the survival rates (>90%) and the transfection efficiency by approximately 35%. The small amount of epimastigotes and DNA required for the nucleofection can turn the method adopted here into an attractive tool for high throughput screening (HTS) applications, and for gene editing in parasites where genetic manipulation tools remain relatively scarce.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.parint.2017.01.019 | DOI Listing |
Exp Parasitol
January 2025
Grupo de Química Orgánica de Productos Naturales, Instituto de Química, Universidad de Antioquia-UdeA. Calle 70 # 52-21, Medellín, Colombia. Electronic address:
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are neglected tropical diseases that affect millions worldwide. Despite the high morbidity associated with these infections, current treatments are often highly toxic and are showing diminishing efficacy. Thus, new therapeutic options are urgently needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceutics
January 2025
Institute of Chemistry Rosario, National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (IQUIR-CONICET), Rosario 2000, Argentina.
: Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by infection with the parasite . Benznidazole and nifurtimox are the only approved drugs for treating this condition, but their low aqueous solubility may lead to erratic bioavailability. This work aimed for the first time to formulate tablets of nifurtimox by hot melt extrusion coupled with 3D printing as a strategy to increase drug dissolution and the production of tablets with dosage on demand.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceuticals (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Biochemistry, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Mexico City 14080, Mexico.
Infection with the protozoan parasite causes human Chagas disease. Benznidazole (BNZ) and nifurtimox are the current drugs for the treatment; however, they induce severe adverse side effects in patients; therefore, there is a need to improve the treatment effectiveness and efficiency of these drugs for its safer use. : Glyburide, glipizide, and gliquidone, hypoglycemic drugs for diabetes treatment, were previously predicted to bind to dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase from by in silico docking analysis; they also showed antiproliferative effects against epimastigotes, the stage of the insect vector.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPathogens
January 2025
UMR INTERTRYP University Montpellier, IRD, CIRAD, F-34398 Montpellier, France.
Morphometry is an effort to describe or measure the morphology of the body, or parts of it. It also provides quantitative data on the interactions of living organisms with their environment, external or internal. As a discipline, morphometrics has undergone significant developments in the last decade, making its implementation more visual and less laborious.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPathogens
January 2025
Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
Kinetoplastids display a single, large mitochondrion per cell, with their mitochondrial DNA referred to as the kinetoplast. This kinetoplast is a network of concatenated circular molecules comprising a maxicircle (20-64 kb) and up to thousands of minicircles varying in size depending on the species (0.5-10 kb).
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