#trypanosome

Panicking Parasites

It’s the biting bug that tends to get the blame for most insect-borne diseases like Chagas’ disease and African sleeping sickness. But the real culprits are troublemakers called trypanosomes. These parasites slink between insect and mammal, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Their successful invasion of different hosts relies on their ability to evade the insect and mammal immune systems. New research has found that one way they do that is by sending out panic signals when they find themselves in trouble. These aren’t cries for help, but last-resort warnings to other parasites. The signals are in the form of exosomes, small packages containing molecules that stimulate nearby parasites to flee the immediate area, shown here being sent from a damaged trypanosome (red) to a healthy one (blue). Deciphering enemy codes like these could be key to developing new treatments in the war on insect-borne diseases.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Image by Dror Eliaz, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology Institute

The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology Institute, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan Israel

Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)

Research published in PLOS Pathogens, March 2017

The Scientific Research Notes Of S. Sunkavally. Printed Part, Page 434.

The Scientific Research Notes of S. Sunkavally (years: 2002-2011).

This patient had multiple possible parasitic organisms that could have been considered as a possible cause for his symptoms, considering his history of travel to Africa and South America. On the list of possibilities would certainly be malaria. There are rapid immunochromatographic assays available now that can help to rule out malaria. The BinaxNOW™ is an example of such a rapid…

Pore Form

These whip-tailed creatures are trypanosome parasites – responsible for causing sleeping sickness – viewed down a microscope. Fluorescent dyes have been used to pick out different parts of each single-celled organism: red marks their surface and tail, which enables them to move; blue highlights their DNA, contained in a bag-like structure called the nucleus; and green denotes tiny channels in this bag, known as nuclear pores. Built from around 30 different types of proteins – a staggering 500 protein molecules in total – these pores control the flow of chemicals into and out of the nucleus. Intriguingly, the structure of the nuclear pores is rather different in trypanosomes compared with those in animal, plant and yeast cells. While the central part of the pore is similar in all species, the outer parts of the channel are much more variable, suggesting that its roots go much further back in evolution than previously thought.

Written by Kat Arney

Image by Jeffery deGrasse

Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)

Published in PLOS Biology, February 2016

I needed to take my mind off some unfortunate news... so happy valentines day from all the little guys inside!!!