University of Georgia
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Category: publications

Pseudokinase NRP1 facilitates endocytosis of transferrin in the African trypanosome

Donna Huber on November 3, 2022

Trypanosoma brucei causes human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) and nagana in cattle. During infection of a vertebrate, endocytosis of host transferrin (Tf) is important for viability of the parasite. The majority of proteins involved in trypanosome endocytosis of Tf are unknown. Here we identify pseudokinase NRP1 (Tb427tmp.160.4770) as a regulator of Tf endocytosis. Genetic knockdown of …

Prophylactic low-dose, bi-weekly benznidazole treatment fails to prevent Trypanosoma cruzi infection in dogs under intense transmission pressure

Donna Huber on October 31, 2022

Trypanosoma cruzi naturally infects a wide variety of wild and domesticated mammals, in addition to humans. Depending on the infection dose and other factors, the acute infection can be life-threatening, and in all cases, the risk of chagasic heart disease is high in persistently infected hosts. Domestic, working, and semi-feral dogs in the Americas are …

Assessing seroprevalence and associated risk factors for multiple infectious diseases in Sabah, Malaysia using serological multiplex bead assays

Donna Huber on October 25, 2022

Background: Infectious diseases continue to burden populations in Malaysia, especially among rural communities where resources are limited and access to health care is difficult. Current epidemiological trends of several neglected tropical diseases in these populations are at present absent due to the lack of habitual and efficient surveillance. To date, various studies have explored the …

The mystery of massive mitochondrial complexes: the apicomplexan respiratory chain

Donna Huber on October 24, 2022

The mitochondrial respiratory chain is an essential pathway in most studied eukaryotes due to its roles in respiration and other pathways that depend on mitochondrial membrane potential. Apicomplexans are unicellular eukaryotes whose members have an impact on global health. The respiratory chain is a drug target for some members of this group, notably the malaria-causing …

Spindly is a nucleocytosolic O-fucosyltransferase in Dictyostelium and related proteins are widespread in protists and bacteria

Donna Huber on October 17, 2022

O-GlcNAcylation is a prominent modification of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins in animals and plants, and is mediated by a single O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT). Spindly (Spy), a paralog of OGT first discovered in higher plants, has an ortholog in the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, and both enzymes are now recognized as O-fucosyltransferases (OFTs). Here we investigate …

The Toxoplasma Plant-Like Vacuolar Compartment (PLVAC)

Donna Huber on October 11, 2022

Toxoplasma gondii belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa and is an important cause of congenital disease and infection in immunocompromised patients. T. gondii shares several characteristics with plants including a non-photosynthetic plastid termed apicoplast and a multi-vesicular organelle that was named the plant-like vacuole (PLV) or vacuolar compartment (VAC). The name plant-like vacuole was selected based …

Hypothesis-generating proteome perturbation to identify NEU-4438 and acoziborole modes of action in the African Trypanosome

Donna Huber on October 7, 2022

NEU-4438 is a lead for the development of drugs against Trypanosoma brucei, which causes human African trypanosomiasis. Optimized with phenotypic screening, targets of NEU-4438 are unknown. Herein, we present a cell perturbome workflow that compares NEU-4438's molecular modes of action to those of SCYX-7158 (acoziborole). Following a 6 h perturbation of trypanosomes, NEU-4438 and acoziborole reduced …

Liver-stage fate determination in Plasmodium vivax parasites: Characterization of schizont growth and hypnozoite fating from patient isolates

Donna Huber on September 23, 2022

Plasmodium vivax, one species of parasite causing human malaria, forms a dormant liver stage, termed the hypnozoite, which activate weeks, months or years after the primary infection, causing relapse episodes. Relapses significantly contribute to the vivax malaria burden and are only killed with drugs of the 8-aminoquinoline class, which are contraindicated in many vulnerable populations. …

MICU1 and MICU2 potentiation of Ca2+ uptake by the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter of Trypanosoma cruzi and its inhibition by Mg2

Donna Huber on September 21, 2022

Trypanosome MCU cimplex organization The mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, which is important to regulate bioenergetics, cell death and cytoplasmic Ca2+ signaling, is mediated via the calcium uniporter complex (MCUC). In animal cells the MCUC is regulated by the mitochondrial calcium uptake 1 and 2 dimer (MICU1/MICU2), which has been proposed to act as gatekeeper preventing mitochondrial Ca2+ overload at …