Roberto Docampo

Of Note

• Member (corresponding), Brazilian Academy of Sciences (elected in 1999)
• Member, Georgia Academy of Eminent Scholars (elected in 2005)
• Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (elected in 2010)
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (elected in 2011)
• Raíces (Roots) Award, Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, Argentina (2013)
• Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of San Martin (UNSAM), Argentina (2013)
• São Paulo Excellence Chair, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Brazil (2014)
• Distinguished Research Professor UGA (2016)
• Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award, UGA (2017)
• Member (corresponding), Latin American Academy of Sciences (elected in 2017)

Research

The Docampo Laboratory has a long-term interest in the chemotherapy of parasitic diseases. Early work on free radical metabolism led to the findings that antifungal azoles are effective agents against Trypanosoma cruzi, and that the mode of action and toxicity of the nitro compounds currently used against these parasites involved free radical intermediates.

The lab interest shifted in the early 1990’s to the study of calcium homeostasis in parasitic protists. These studies led to the discovery of the acidocalcisomes, acidic organelles rich in calcium and phosphorus that are conserved from bacteria to man. For the last few years, the lab has focused on the functions of these organelles in a variety of cells, including trypanosomatids, malaria parasites, Chlamydomonas, Dictyostelium, bacteria, human platelets, mast cells, and insect, chicken, and sea urchin eggs.

The Docampo lab also found that acidocalcisomes are rich in pyrophosphate and short- and long-chain polyphosphate and that polyphosphate has a variety of novel functions in eukaryotes, from an osmoregulatory function in trypanosomes to a potent procoagulant and antifibrinolytic action in human blood. The discovery of high levels of pyrophosphate in the acidocalcisomes also led to the use of pyrophosphate analogs, currently used in the treatment of osteoporosis and other bone diseases (bisphosphonates), as potential chemotherapeutic agents against parasitic protists. Some of these bisphosphonates have been shown to produce radical cures in animal models of leishmaniasis.

More recently, the Docampo lab has investigated the role of another organelle, the contractile vacuole complex, in osmoregulation and protein trafficking in trypanosomes. These studies can reveal targets for trypanocidal drugs and have a variety of therapeutic implications. The lab strategy is to search for metabolic pathways in parasites that may be essential for their survival but may not find an equivalent counterpart in the host. Thus, one could look for specific inhibitors of such metabolic activities as possible means of controlling the parasites without damaging the hosts.

Representative Publications

• Huang, G., and Docampo, R. (2020) The mitochondrial calcium uniporter interacts with subunit c of the ATP synthase of trypanosomes and humans. mBio 11, e00268-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00268-20
• Faktorová, D, Nisbet, E.R., Fernández Robledo, J.A., Casacuberta, E., Sudek, L., Allen, A.E., Ares Jr., M., Aresté, C., Balestreri, C., Barbrook, A.C., Beardslee, P., Bender, S., Booth, D.S., Bouget, F.Y., Bowler, C., Breglia, S.A., Brownlee, C., Burger, G, Cerutti, H., Cesaroni, R., Chiurillo, M.A., Clemente, T., Coles, D.B., Collier, J.L., Cooney, E.C., Coyne, K., Docampo, R. et al. (2020) Genetic tool development in marine protists: Emerging model organisms for experimental cell biology. Nat. Meth. 17, 481-494. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-020-0796-x
• Ramakrishnan, S. Unger, L.M., Baptista, R.P., Cruz-Bustos, T., and Docampo, R. (2021) Deletion of a Golgi protein in Trypanosoma cruzi reveals a critical role for Mn²⁺ in protein glycosylation needed for host cell invasion and intracellular replication. PLoS Path. 17, e1009399. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009399
• Negreiros, R., Lander, N., Chiurillo, M.A., Vercesi, A.E., and Docampo, R. (2021) Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier subunits are essential for pyruvate-driven respiration, infectivity, and intracellular replication of Trypanosoma cruzi. mBio 12:e00540-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00540-21
• Mantilla, B.S., Azevedo, C., Denny, P.W., Saiardi, A., and Docampo, R. (2021) The histidine ammonia lyase of Trypanosoma cruzi is involved in alkalinization of acidocalcisomes and is essential for survival under starvation conditions. mBio, 12, e198121-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01981-21
• Boeynaems, S,, Dorone, Y., Zhuang, Y., Shabardina, V., Huang, G., Marian, A., Kim, A., Sen, N.-E., Griffith, D., Docampo, R., Lasker, K., Ruiz-Trillo, I., Auburger, G., Holehouse, A.S., Kabashi, E., Lin, Y., Gitler, A.D. (2023) Poly(A)-binding protein is an ataxin-2 chaperone that regulates biomolecular condensates. Mol. Cell 83, 2020-2034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2023.05.025
• Docampo, R (2024) Advances in the cellular biology, biochemistry and molecular biology of acidocaclisomes. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 88 (1) 10.1128/mmbr.00042-23. https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.00042-23
• Bertolini, M.S., Clide, S.E., Chiurillo, M.A., Mantilla, B.S., Eidex, A., Crowe, L.P., Qiu, D., Jessen, H.J., Saiardi, A., and Docampo, R. (2025) Generation of inositol polyphosphate through a phospholipase C-independent pathway involving carbohydrate and sphingolipid metabolism in Trypanosoma cruzi. mBio 16 (1) 10.1128mbio.03318-24. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.03318-24
• Huang, G., Bertolini, M.S., Wiedeman, J., Etheridge, R.D., Cruz-Bustos, T., and Docampo, R. (2025) Lysosome and plasma membrane Piezo channels of Trypanosoma cruzi are essential for proliferation, differentiation and infectivity. PLoS Path. 21 (4): e1013105. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013105
• Huang, G., Singh, H, Singh, P., Vasrshnaya, R.K., Hamelberg, D., Wang, B., and Docampo. R. (2025) Chemical and genetic validation of an essential calcium entry channel of Trypanosoma brucei as a therapeutic target. ACS Infect Dis. 11, 1741-1752. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsinfecdis.5c00329

News

Two CTEGD trainees receive AHA fellowships

Trainee Spotlight: Mayara Bertolini

Trainee Spotlight: Logan Crowe

UGA researchers join team of 100+ scientists to develop genetic tools for marine protists

Trainee Spotlight: Ciro Cordeiro

UGA researcher uses cellular biology to target lethal parasites OnlineAthens

Cellular biology research targets lethal parasites that affect millions

Trainee Spotlight: Evgeniy Potapenko

Roberto Docampo Elected Corresponding Member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences

Roberto Docampo named UGA recipient of SEC Faculty Achievement Award

Roberto Docampo Named Distinguished Research Professor

Podcasts & Videos