Expression and characterization of thymidylate kinase from Cryptosporidium parvum

Cryptosporidium parvum is an opportunistic pathogen that causes a potentially life‐threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals. This parasite is also a potential bioterrorism agent. There are no effective treatments to cure cryptosporidiosis. Thymidylate kinase is an enzyme essential for nucleoside triphosphate biosynthesis in C. parvum . The C. parvum thymidylate kinase (CpTMPK) was cloned from C. parvum genomic DNA, and expressed in Escherichia coli . Presentation will include purification, and preliminary characterization of CpTMPK. The ultimate goal of this project is to design a high‐throughput screen to identify selective inhibitors of CpTMPK that could be used as lead compounds to develop a drug to treat cryptosporidiosis.