Open AccessStructural investigation of cyclic nucleotide binding proteins from Trypanosoma cruzi
Author(s) -
Gabriel Ferri,
Martín M. Edreira,
Ivan Campeotto
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
access microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2516-8290
DOI - 10.1099/acmi.ac2020.po0932
Subject(s) - trypanosoma cruzi , chagas disease , biology , antiparasitic , benznidazole , parasitology , antiparasitic agent , signal transduction , trypanosoma , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , parasite hosting , pharmacology , virology , zoology , medicine , pathology , world wide web , computer science
Fora targeted therapy of Trypanosomiasis, new antiparasitic drugs should be specifically directed against essential pathways in the parasite life cycle. Among these potential targets are signal transduction pathways, which have remained largely unexplored in Trypanosoma species. Of special interest is cAMP-mediated signaling, since cAMP has been shown to play critical roles in the life cycle of T. cruzi and in host cell during invasion. The presented research focuses on the identification and characterisation of novel cAMP response proteins (CARPs) in T. cruzi by using a multi disciplinary approach involving the parasitology group of Dr Martin Edreira (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina) and the structural biology group of Dr Ivan Campeotto (University of Leicester, UK). The aim of the project is not only to increase our knowledge about T. cruzi biology but also to target CARPs for the design and development of novel therapeutic agents against Chagas disease. To date, protein crystals of one of the members of the CARP family have been obtained, paving the way for structure determination and for a structure-based drug design approach.