Recommend a paper
-
Cell & Molecular Biology
-
13+ votes
0- votes
- Log in to vote
-
Crucial role of cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase in Leishmania donovani survival, drug response and virulence
- Jitesh P. Iyer, Anees Kaprakkaden, Manohar L. Choudhary, Chandrima Shaha,
- Original article citation: Mol Microbiol 68," 372 - 391, (2008).
- Categories: Cell & Molecular Biology and Clinical Medicine
- Recommended by: Anand Giddabasappa CS on 03/31/2008 05:58AM GMT
- Reasons for recommending:
Leishmaniasis or kala-azar is a parasitic disease that has re-emerged in India. Epidemiological studies show that 90% of the cases occur in India. Though the government of India has employed many strategies for prevention and treatment of this disease, resistance to the DDT and also drugs has posed a major challenge. Understanding of the physiology of the parasite and also identification of unique drug targets in the parasite can be a major break-through in this area of science. Iyer et al. have made a big effort in this process. Leishmania donovani the causative agent of Leishmaniasis utilizes a unique pathway present only in the parasite to detoxify the free radicals generated by the host macrophages. Iyer et al. have shown that tryparedoxin peroxidase is the key enzyme in this pathway. This article shows that tryparedoxin peroxidase is required for the parasite’s survival and virulence. Hence this can be a unique and an excellent target for treating Leishmaniasis.
-
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.
Add your own comment
You can be as critical or controversial as you like, but please don't get personal or offensive, and do keep it brief. Remember this is for feedback and discussion - not for publishing papers, press releases or advertisements, for example.
You need to be registered with Nature to leave a comment. Please log in or register as a new user. You will be re-directed back to this page.
This is an excellent work. The leads obtained from this work should be persued further. The work is valuable as it helps in understanding the macrophage-Leishmania interaction, as well as its potential therapeutic importance.
Leishmaniasis can be transmitted in many tropical and sub-tropical countries, and is found in parts of about 88 countries. More than 90 percent of the world's cases of leismaniasis are in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan, and Brazil. Intracellular parasitic protozoans of the genus Leishmania depend on their survival due to elaboration of enzymic and other mechanisms for evading toxic free-radical damage inflicted by their phagocytic macrophage host. Yet, very few new drugs are on the horizon and treatment relies on old, often toxic and ineffective drugs. Iyer et al. have identified a new drug target, tryparedoxin peroxidase in the parasite that plays a major role to detoxify the free radicals generated by the host macrophages. Tryparedoxin peroxidase can be a unique target for inhibiting intracellular survival of Leishmania.