Scientific area
3.3 Health sciences
Discipline(s)
Parasitology
Infectious diseases
Tropical medicine
Project title
METAL (IRON AND ZINC) METABOLISM IN LEISHMANIA
Scientific Coordinator's name:
Ana M. Tomás
Scientific Coordinator's e-mail:
atomas@ibmc.up.pt
Principal R&D Unit:
Molecular Parasitology
Other R&D Units involved in the project:
Other R&D units involved in the project
Project keyword(s)
Leishmania; Trypanosomatid; parasite; trypanothione; redox; drug development.
Short abstract and comments
Leishmaniasis is a major health and veterinary concern caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. In order to better understand how these parasites interact with their hosts and to identify new parasite proteins with value as drug targets, we are investigating how these organisms acquire metals and maintain metal homeostasis. One way to achieve this, involves the comparison of parasites grown in normal medium and in media in which a particular metal is in limiting concentrations. This is because metal homeostasis is very regulated and proteins with a major role in the internalization of these nutrients tend to be upregulated only when organisms face metal limitation. In the scope of this project we have identified and characterized the first zinc importer within these parasites. We observed also that this transporter is of high affinity and tightly regulated by zinc.
Potential uses/indications
Potential uses/indications
Status
Ongoing
Partner Status: Seeking Partners?
Yes
Grant number (QREN, FP7, Eureka, etc)
Grant number (QREN, FP7, Eureka, etc)
Last edited on
2012-12-27 18:21:06