Today the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) in Argentina published an interview with Professor Claudio Pereira on the NTD Network and the role of our Network partners amongst its membership. The Network project is seeking novel drug targets towards solutions for two neglected tropical diseases, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, alongside forging new industrial collaborations and training early career researchers in the specialist skills needed for this vital work.
Claudio, based at the Instituto de Investigaciones Medicas Alfredo Lanari in Buenos Aires (IDIM, CONICET-BA) is scoping the druggable potential of proteins involved cross-membrane transport of metabolites in Trypanosoma cruzi (causing Chagas disease). Read the interview on the work of Claudio and his team, here.
Our other partners are Professor Julia Cricco at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Rosario (IBR, CONICET-UNR), investigating components of heme uptake and biosynthesis, and Professor Guillermo Labadie at the Rosario Institute of Chemistry (IQUIR, CONICET-UNR), investigating naturally-sourced compounds for their potential as novel anti-parasitic drugs.
Guilllermo is co-organising an upcoming Network training workshop in skills for drug discovery, at Mendoza City, Argentina, 2-4 November 2019; bursaries are available to support students to attend. Workshop information is available via our events page.
“Structure is the starting point for understanding any protein!”
Dr Amy Goundry (front, right) is currently a post-doctoral research associate from the lab of Ana Paula Lima (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). Amy’s career to date has focussed on one, puzzling protein. “Inhibitor of Serine Peptidase 2” (ISP2), is a protein found in Leishmania parasites, enabling them to infect their mammalian (including human) hosts. Serine peptidases are enzymes with key roles in health and disease, appearing in organisms everywhere from viruses and bacteria to humans – everywhere that is, except in Leishmania. Once a sandfly bite has introduced Leishmania parasites into the body of a mammal host, they must quickly infect white blood cells, and modify the behaviour of these cells, in order to survive. The parasites produce ISP2, which inactivates white blood cell serine peptidases and halts the immune response.
“…but after more than a decade of research, we still don’t know how ISP2 works!”
This puzzle has brought Amy to Durham University for a 5-week secondment with our structural biologists – Dr Ehmke Pohl and the crystallography team.
“I always said there were two things I’d never do:
parasites and metabolism!”
Professor Ariel Silber, from the University of São Paulo (USP), the NTD Network hub leader for South America, laughs as he recalls himself as an impetuous undergraduate. Ariel is a specialist in trypanosomes (Tryps); single-celled parasites causing the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness. We are catching up over a coffee during his visit with Durham NTD Network members.
