Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.Molecular and functional characterization of two malic enzymes from Leishmania parasites
Publication date: Available online 8 November 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Lucila Giordana, Máximo Hernán Sosa, Alejandro E. Leroux, Elkin F. Rodas Mendoza, Patricia Petray, Cristina Nowicki Leishmania parasites cause a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations in humans and the available clinical treatments are far from satisfactory. Since these pathogens require large amounts of NADPH to maintain intracellular redox homeostasis, oxidoreductases that catalyze the production of NADPH are considered as potential drug targets against these diseases. In the sequenced genomes of most ...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - November 19, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Structure and function of Per-ARNT-Sim domains and their possible role in the life-cycle biology of Trypanosoma cruzi
Publication date: Available online 11 November 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Maura Rojas-Pirela, Daniel J. Rigden, Paul A. Michels, Ana J. Cáceres, Juan Luis Concepción, Wilfredo Quiñones Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) domains of proteins play important roles as modules for signalling and cellular regulation processes in widely diverse organisms such as Archaea, Bacteria, protists, plants, yeasts, insects and vertebrates. These domains are present in many proteins where they are used as sensors of stimuli and modules for protein interactions. Characteristically, they can bind a broad spectrum...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - November 19, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Involvement of SNARE protein Ykt6 in glycosome biogenesis in Trypanosoma brucei
Publication date: December 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, Volume 218 Author(s): Hiren Banerjee, Richard A. Rachubinski The kinetoplastid parasites Trypanosoma and Leishmania are etiologic agents of diseases like African sleeping sickness, Chagas and leishmaniasis that inflict many tropical and subtropical parts of the world. These parasites are distinctive in that they compartmentalize most of the usually cytosolic enzymes of the glycolytic pathway within a peroxisome-like organelle called the glycosome. Functional glycosomes are essential in both the procyclic and bloodstream forms of trypanosomat...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - November 19, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Flow cytometric characterization of encystation in Entamoeba invadens
Publication date: December 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, Volume 218 Author(s): Brenda H. Welter, Michael G. Sehorn, Lesly A. Temesvari Entamoeba histolytica causes dysentery and liver abscess mostly in countries that lack proper sanitation. Infection is acquired by ingestion of the cyst form in contaminated food or water. E. histolytica does not encyst in vitro; thus, E. invadens, a reptilian parasite that encysts in vitro, has been used as a surrogate. Cysts are small and possess chitin-rich walls. These are characteristics that may be exploited by flow cytometry. We stained encysting E. invaden...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - November 19, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Comparison of two methods for transformation of Plasmodium knowlesi: Direct schizont electroporation and spontaneous plasmid uptake from plasmid-loaded red blood cells
Publication date: Available online 6 October 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Roberto R. Moraes Barros, Tyler J. Gibson, Whitney A. Kite, Juliana M. Sá, Thomas E. Wellems Human infections from Plasmodium knowlesi species present challenges to malaria control in Southeast Asia. P. knowlesi also offers a model for other human malaria species including Plasmodium vivax. P. knowlesi parasites can be cultivated in the laboratory, and their transformation is standardly performed by direct electroporation of schizont-infected red blood cells (RBCs) with plasmid DNA. Here we show that the effic...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - October 6, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
The Divergent N-terminal Domain of Tim17 is Critical for its Assembly in the TIM Complex in Trypanosoma brucei
Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Ebony Weems, Ujjal K. Singha, Joseph T. Smith, Minu Chaudhuri Trypanosoma brucei Tim17(TbTim17), the single member of the Tim17/23/22 protein family, is an essential component of the translocase of the mitochondrial inner membrane (TIM). In spite of the conserved secondary structure, the primary sequence of TbTim17, particularly the N-terminal hydrophilic region, is significantly divergent. In order to understand the function of this region we expressed two N-terminal deletion mutants (Δ20 and Δ30) of TbTim...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - September 29, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Structural and evolutionary analysis of Leishmania Alba proteins
Publication date: October 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, Volume 217 Author(s): Kauê Santana da Costa, João Marcos Pereira Galúcio, Elvis Santos Leonardo, Guelber Cardoso, Élcio Leal, Guilherme Conde, Jerônimo Lameira The Alba superfamily proteins share a common RNA-binding domain. These proteins participate in a variety of regulatory pathways by controlling developmental gene expression. They also interact with ribosomal subunits, translation factors, and other RNA-binding proteins. The Leishmania infantum genome encodes two Alba-domain proteins, LiAlba1 and LiAlba3. In this work, we used...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - September 15, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
The 50kDa metalloproteinase TvMP50 is a zinc-mediated Trichomonas vaginalis virulence factor
Publication date: Available online 5 September 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Jonathan Puente-Rivera, José Luis Villalpando, Alma Villalobos-Osnaya, Laura Isabel Vázquez-Carrillo, Gloria León-Ávila, María Dolores Ponce-Regalado, César López-Camarillo, Jose Miguel Elizalde-Contreras, Eliel Ruiz-May, Rossana Arroyo, María Elizbeth Álvarez-Sánchez Trichomonas vaginalis is a protozoan parasite that can adapt to the trichomonicidal Zn2+ concentrations of the male urogenital tract microenvironment. This adaptation is mediated by molecular mechanisms, including proteinase expr...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - September 5, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Presence of quintuple dhfr N51, C59, S108 – dhps A437, K540 mutations in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from pregnant women and the general population in Nanoro, Burkina Faso
Publication date: October 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, Volume 217 Author(s): Esmée Ruizendaal, Marc C. Tahita, Maminata Traoré-Coulibaly, Halidou Tinto, Henk D.F.H. Schallig, Petra F. Mens Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is only used for intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy (IPTp) in most Sub-Saharan African countries. However, there are concerns about the efficacy of IPTp-SP because of increasing resistance. Combinations of point mutations in the dhps and dhfr genes of Plasmodium falciparum are associated with SP resistance, in particular the quintuple dhfr (N51, C59, S108) ...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - August 30, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Structural and Evolutionary Analyses of Leishmania Alba Proteins
Publication date: Available online 25 August 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Kauê Santana da Costa, João Marcos Pereira Galúcio, Elvis Santos Leonardo, Guelber Cardoso, Élcio Leal, Guilherme Conde, Jerônimo Lameira The Alba superfamily proteins share a common RNA-binding domain. These proteins participate in a variety of regulatory pathways by controlling developmental gene expression. They also interact with ribosomal subunits, translation factors, and other RNA-binding proteins. The Leishmania infantum genome encodes two Alba-domain proteins, LiAlba1 and LiAlba3. In this work, ...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - August 26, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Tandem affinity purification of exosome and replication factor C complexes from the non-human infectious kinetoplastid parasite Crithidia fasciculata
Publication date: Available online 24 August 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Wakisa Kipandula, Terry K. Smith, Stuart A. MacNeill Kinetoplastid parasites are responsible for a range of diseases with significant global impact. Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi cause human African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease, respectively, while various Leishmania species are responsible for cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. Understanding the biology of these organisms is key for effective diagnosis, prophylaxis and treatment. The insect parasite Crithidia fasciculata offers...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - August 25, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Rodent-free cyclical transmission of Trypanosoma brucei brucei
Publication date: Available online 24 August 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Arunasalam Naguleswaran, Isabel Roditi We provide a simple protocol enabling cyclical transmission of Trypanosoma brucei brucei to be performed without the need for mammals. These procedures have two advantages: they are in line with 3R principles of animal use − replace, refine, reduce − and may enable more laboratories to study the complete life cycle. (Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology)
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - August 24, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Biochemical composition of marine monogenean parasite eggs
This study on the eggs of the tropical monogenean Neobenedenia girellae presents the first detailed quantitative biochemical information of a marine parasite species’ eggs. Moisture and protein composed the majority of the contents of freshly laid eggs (79.12±0.82 and 11.51±0.49% respectively) followed by lipid (2.50±0.15%). Lipids were composed of approximately equal amounts of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids and the predominant lipid class was triacylglycerol (33.82±1.20%). This study represents a fundamental step towards a better understanding of the early life biology of this important...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - August 24, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Two cap residues in the S1 subsite of a Plasmodium falciparum M1-family aminopeptidase promote broad specificity and enhance catalysis
In this study, we have mutated the cap residues, individually and together, and have evaluated the effects on PfA-M1 specificity and catalytic efficiency. When the P1 residue was too small to engage the cap residues, the mutations had no effect on catalysis. Hydrolysis of dipeptide substrates with a basic P1 residue was significantly impaired in the E572A mutant, most likely due to the loss of a stabilizing salt bridge between E572 and the P1 sidechain. With M1034A, a substantial reduction in catalytic efficiency was observed when the P1 sidechain was large and non-polar. The double E572A/M1034A exhibited significant decre...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - August 17, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
Presence of quintuple dhfr N51, C59, S108 − dhps A437, K540 mutations in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from pregnant women and the general population in Nanoro, Burkina Faso
Publication date: Available online 14 August 2017 Source:Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Author(s): Esmée Ruizendaal, Marc C. Tahita, Maminata Traoré, Halidou Tinto, Henk D.F.H. Schallig, Petra F. Mens Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is only used for intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy (IPTp) in most Sub-Saharan African countries. However, there are concerns about the efficacy of IPTp-SP because of increasing resistance. Combinations of point mutations in the dhps and dhfr genes of Plasmodium falciparum are associated with SP resistance, in particular the quintuple dhfr (N51, C59, S108) − ...
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - August 17, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: research
