Donna Huber, Author at Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases

A cathepsin C-like protease mediates the post-translation modification of Toxoplasma gondii secretory proteins for optimal invasion and egress

Donna Huber on June 16, 2023

Microbial pathogens use proteases for their infections, such as digestion of proteins for nutrients and activation of their virulence factors. As an obligate intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii must invade host cells to establish its intracellular propagation. To facilitate invasion, the parasites secrete invasion effectors from microneme and rhoptry, two unique organelles in apicomplexans. Previous work has shown …

Evaluation of renal values during treatment for heartworm disease in 27 client-owned dogs

Donna Huber on June 9, 2023

Background: Canine heartworm disease (CHD) caused by Dirofilaria immitis remains a common preventable disease with increasing incidence in some parts of the USA. The treatment guidelines of the American Heartworm Society (AHS) currently recommend monthly macrocyclic lactone administration, 28 days of doxycycline given orally every 12 h and three injections of melarsomine dihydrochloride (1 injection on …

Christopher West named 2023 Distinguished Research Professor

Donna Huber on June 7, 2023

Christopher West, head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, a researcher in the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center and a member of CTEGD, belongs to a small group of internationally recognized parasite glycobiologists. His rigorous, transformative research explores cellular processes involving various structures, enzymes and roles of glycans, or sugar chains. His studies have …

Monitoring transmission intensity of trachoma with serology

Donna Huber on June 5, 2023

Trachoma, caused by ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection, is targeted for global elimination as a public health problem by 2030. To provide evidence for use of antibodies to monitor C. trachomatis transmission, we collated IgG responses to Pgp3 antigen, PCR positivity, and clinical observations from 19,811 children aged 1-9 years in 14 populations. We demonstrate that …

Poly(A)-binding protein is an ataxin-2 chaperone that regulates biomolecular condensates

Donna Huber on June 1, 2023

Biomolecular condensation underlies the biogenesis of an expanding array of membraneless assemblies, including stress granules (SGs), which form under a variety of cellular stresses. Advances have been made in understanding the molecular grammar of a few scaffold proteins that make up these phases, but how the partitioning of hundreds of SG proteins is regulated remains …

Knockout of protein phosphatase 1 in Leishmania major reveals its role during RNA polymerase II transcription termination

Donna Huber on May 17, 2023

The genomes of kinetoplastids are organized into polycistronic transcription units that are flanked by a modified DNA base (base J, beta-D-glucosyl-hydroxymethyluracil). Previous work established a role of base J in promoting RNA polymerase II (Pol II) termination in Leishmania major and Trypanosoma brucei. We recently identified a PJW/PP1 complex in Leishmania containing a J-binding protein …

Effective drug discovery in Chagas disease

Donna Huber on May 15, 2023

The Chagas field has gone >50 years without tangible progress toward new therapies. My colleagues and I have recently reported on a benzoxaborole compound that achieves consistent parasitological cure in experimentally infected mice and in naturally infected non-human primates (NHPs). While these results do not assure success in human clinical trials, they significantly de-risk this …

Identification of novel anti-amoebic pharmacophores from kinase inhibitor chemotypes

Donna Huber on May 10, 2023

Acanthamoeba species, Naegleria fowleri, and Balamuthia mandrillaris are opportunistic pathogens that cause a range of brain, skin, eye, and disseminated diseases in humans and animals. These pathogenic free-living amoebae (pFLA) are commonly misdiagnosed and have sub-optimal treatment regimens which contribute to the extremely high mortality rates (>90%) when they infect the central nervous system. To address the unmet medical …

Generating Genetically Modified Plasmodium berghei Sporozoites

Donna Huber on May 5, 2023

Malaria is a deadly disease caused by the parasite Plasmodium and is transmitted through the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. The sporozoite stage of Plasmodium deposited by mosquitoes in the skin of vertebrate hosts undergoes a phase of mandatory development in the liver before initiating clinical malaria. We know little about the biology of Plasmodium …

Treatment of dogs with Bravecto® (fluralaner) reduces mosquito survival and fecundity

Donna Huber on April 28, 2023

Background: Mosquitoes serve as the vector of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis), which represents a significant and persistent threat to canine health. A reduction in the longevity and/or reproductive success of mosquitoes that take a blood meal from fluralaner-treated dogs may consequently reduce the local transmission of heartworm and prevent new infections. A novel secondary effect of …

Author: Donna Huber