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Author: Donna Huber

Mono-allelic epigenetic regulation of polycistronic transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in Trypanosoma brucei

Donna Huber on December 20, 2024

Unique for a eukaryote, protein-coding genes in trypanosomes are arranged in polycistronic transcription units (PTUs). This genome arrangement has led to a model where Pol II transcription of PTUs is unregulated and changes in gene expression are entirely post-transcriptional. Trypanosoma brucei brucei is unable to infect humans because of its susceptibility to an innate immune complex, trypanosome …

A new chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of Cryptosporidium meleagridis

Donna Huber on December 18, 2024

  Cryptosporidium spp. are medically and scientifically relevant protozoan parasites that cause severe diarrheal illness in infants, immunosuppressed populations and many animals. Although most human Cryptosporidium infections are caused by C. parvum and C. hominis, there are several other human-infecting species including C. meleagridis, which are commonly observed in developing countries. Here, we annotated a …

Spirocyclic iridoid alkaloids from Plumeria rubra

Donna Huber on December 13, 2024

Plumerianoids A-D (1-4) with a new intact spirocyclic iridoid alkaloid skeleton, along with a new degraded alkaloid 8-epi-plumerianine (5), and a known one (6), were isolated and characterized from Plumeria rubra. The structure of 6 was revised as (8R,13S)-plumerianine. These alkaloids consist of three epimeric pairs (1/2, 3/4, and 5/6), exhibiting virtually identical NMR spectra within …

The Toxoplasma gondii homolog of ATPase inhibitory factor 1 is critical for mitochondrial cristae maintenance and stress response

Donna Huber on November 27, 2024

The production of energy in the form of ATP by the mitochondrial ATP synthase must be tightly controlled. One well-conserved form of regulation is mediated via ATPase inhibitory factor 1 (IF1), which governs ATP synthase activity and gene expression patterns through a cytoprotective process known as mitohormesis. In apicomplexans, the processes regulating ATP synthase activity …

A pathway for skin NTD diagnostic development

Donna Huber on November 25, 2024

  The present document outlines the next steps recommended by the Skin NTDs subgroup of the DTAG to operationalise individual disease TPPs and to advance the NTD road map approach of scaling up integrated approaches to skin NTDs. Michael Marks, Sundeep Chaitanya Vedithi, Wendy W J van de Sande, Bruno Levecke, Anthony W Solomon, Kingsley …

Screening the Global Health Priority Box against Plasmodium berghei liver stage parasites using an inexpensive luciferase detection protocol

Donna Huber on November 23, 2024

Background: Malaria, a disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium, continues to impact many regions globally. The rise in resistance to artemisinin-based anti-malarial drugs highlights the need for new treatments. Ideally, new anti-malarials will kill the asymptomatic liver stages as well as the symptomatic blood stages. While blood stage screening assays are routine and efficient, …

β-Carboline-3-carboxamide Antimalarials: Structure-Activity Relationship, ADME-Tox Studies, and Resistance Profiling

Donna Huber on October 28, 2024

The development of parasite resistance to both artemisinin derivatives and their partner drugs jeopardizes the effectiveness of the artemisinin combination therapy. Thus, the discovery of new antimalarial drugs, with new mechanisms of action, is urgently needed. We recently disclosed that β-carboline 1a was orally efficacious in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice and that it showed low cross-resistance …

A myeloid differentiation-like protein in partnership with Toll5 from the pest insect Spodoptera litura senses baculovirus infection

Donna Huber on October 23, 2024

  Many types of viruses infect insects and other arthropods. In contrast, little is known about how arthropods sense viruses, although several innate immune pathways including Toll have antiviral functions. Large DNA viruses in the family Baculoviridae are used to control a number of pest insects. Here, we studied Spodoptera litura and Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) to test …