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Nearly 20 million people worldwide
are infected with a parasitic ailment called Chagas Disease, and nearly a third
of those will develop severe heart trouble. Although options for treatment
are poor and there are no vaccines, a new study by scientists at UGA of proteins
in the parasite that causes the disease may offer hope.
The first-ever global survey of protein expression in the four lifecycle stages
of Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes the disease, could help lead
to vaccine discovery and new drug targets, according to Rick Tarleton, a cellular
biologist in UGA’s Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD)
and lead researcher.
“This work provides a first view into some of the complex biology of
this organism,” said Tarleton. “It helps tell us which of its genes
are expressed as proteins and in what stages.”
T. cruzi is a protozoan parasite that infects approximately 18 million people
in Latin American with 90 million more at risk of infection. Chagas disease
is the single most common cause of congestive heart failure and sudden death
in the world and the leading cause of death among young-to-middle age adults
in endemic areas of South America.
The research was published recently in the journal Science. The study was
conducted by Tarleton with colleagues James Atwood and Brent Weatherly, also
of the CTEGD; Ron Orlando and his laboratory at UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate
Research Center; and with help from Fred Opperdoes of Catholic University in
Brussels.
Despite the widespread nature of the disease, available treatments are unreliable,
and no vaccine against the parasite has ever been developed. That’s why
Tarleton and his colleagues studied the T. cruzi “proteome” – proteins
it expresses. The issue is complex, since the parasite has four lifecycle stages.
The research confirmed some of the predictions of gene expression in the just-completed
gene map of T. cruzi. It also showed, for the first time, which genes express
proteins in the four development stages.
While the proteome analysis, in conjunction with the genome, provides new
avenues for drug and vaccine discovery, limitations remain. Unlike the genome,
which provides a comprehensive view of the entire organism, the proteomes are
partial and preliminary.
“Unfortunately, current technology doesn’t allow for the easy
detection of very low abundance proteins,” said Tarleton. “Also,
it can look only at relative expression of proteins in different stages.”
Still, understanding how proteins work in T. cruzi is an important first step
toward helping end the misery that plagues so many people. Researchers estimate
that around 90 million people are at risk for Chagas Disease. In endemic areas,
it is associated with other parasitic diseases, tuberculosis, HIV and malnutrition
as a typical “social disease” among the rural poor. |
The first-ever global survey of protein expression in the four lifecycle stages of Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease, could help lead to vaccine discovery and new drug targets, according to UGA's Rick Tarleton.
