Giardia lamblia, a eukaryotic intestinal parasite, produces small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) as a conserved evolutionary mechanism. This study investigates the functional role of sEVs in modulating drug response traits among G. lamblia parasites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: spp. is an intestinal protozoan causing cryptosporidiosis, a diarrheal disease affecting humans and animals, with zoonotic potential. In immunocompromised individuals, infections can be severe or fatal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Colombian plants have a long history of use in traditional medicine and ethnopharmacology, particularly for treating stomach pain, digestive issues, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal disorders. Recent studies have renewed interest in their potential therapeutic properties.
Methods: This study evaluated the giardicidal activity of 15 crude plant extracts native to the Colombian Amazon against Giardia lamblia (genotype A, strain WB/1267).
Introduction: Post-translational modifications of proteins provide cellular physiology with a broad range of adaptability to the external environment flexibly and rapidly. In the case of the protozoan parasite , the study of these modifications has gained relevance in recent years, mainly focusing on methylation and deacetylation of proteins. This study investigates the significance of acetylation in this protozoan parasite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: is a flagellated protozoan parasite causing giardiasis, a common intestinal infection characterized by diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and nausea. Treatments employed to combat this parasitic infection have remained unchanged for the past 40 years, leading to the emergence of resistant strains and prompting the search for new therapeutic agents.
Methods: This study investigated the cytotoxic effects of ivermectin (IVM) on trophozoites.
Histone post-translational modifications are extensively studied for their role in regulating gene transcription and cellular environmental adaptation. Research into these modifications has recently begun in the protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia, focusing on histone-modifying enzymes and specific post-translational changes. In the transformation from the trophozoite to the cyst form in the life cycle of this parasite, significant morphological and genetic alterations occur, culminating in the synthesis of cyst wall proteins responsible for forming the protective cyst wall.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe genetically related assemblages of the intestinal protozoa parasite are morphologically indistinguishable and are often derived from specific hosts. The assemblages are separated by large genetic distances, which might account for their relevant biological and pathogenic differences. In this work, we analyzed the RNAs cargo released into exosomal-like vesicles (ElVs) by the assemblages A and B, which differentially infect humans, and the assemblage E, which infects hoofed animals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe accumulation of unfolded proteins within the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) activates a signal transduction pathway termed the unfolded protein response (UPR), which attempts to restore ER homoeostasis. If this cannot be done, UPR signalling ultimately induces apoptosis. Ca depletion in the ER is a potent inducer of ER stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia acquires cholesterol from the environment since it is unable to synthesise cholesterol de novo and this is vital for trophozoite growth. Conversely, the lack of cholesterol was described as an essential event to trigger encystation, the differentiation of trophozoites to mature cysts. During the G.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA cross-sectional survey to assess the prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis infection and its associated factors among the child population of infant, preschool and school age in the urban, rural and indigenous population of Iguazú city, in subtropical Argentina was presented. Additionally, the status of enterobiasis at country level was reviewed and analysed. Enterobius vermicularis presence was assessed employing an oviscopic serial sampling technique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGiardia is a parasite distributed worldwide and one of the most prevalent intestinal protozoa in Argentina. We analysed all the national information regarding the prevalence of Giardia infections in humans, animals and environmental surveys over the last 40 years. In this work, we used Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines and the period between 1980 and 2019 was defined as time lapse for inclusion of the studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtracellular vesicles (EVs) facilitate intercellular communication and are considered a promising therapeutic tool for the treatment of infectious diseases. These vesicles involve microvesicles (MVs) and exosomes and selectively transfer proteins, lipids, mRNAs, and microRNAs from one cell to another. While MVs are formed by extrusion of the plasma membrane, exosomes are a population of vesicles of endosomal origin that are stored inside the multivesicular bodies (MVBs) as intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) and are released when the MVBs fuse with the plasma membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe capacity of the parasite Giardia duodenalis to perform complex functions with minimal amounts of proteins and organelles has attracted increasing numbers of scientists worldwide, trying to explain how this parasite adapts to internal and external changes to survive. One explanation could be that G. duodenalis evolved from a structurally complex ancestor by reductive evolution, resulting in adaptation to its parasitic lifestyle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res
February 2019
GM2-gangliosidosis, a subgroup of lysosomal storage disorders, is caused by deficiency of hexosaminidase activity, and comprises the closely related Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases. The enzyme deficiency prevents normal metabolization of ganglioside GM2, usually resulting in progressive neurodegenerative disease. The molecular mechanisms whereby GM2 accumulation in neurons triggers neurodegeneration remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe manner in which membrane-associated proteins interact with the membrane defines their subcellular fate and function. This interaction relies on the characteristics of the proteins, their journey after synthesis, and their interaction with other proteins or enzymes. Understanding these properties may help to define the function of a protein and also the role of an organelle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpsin N-terminal homology (ENTH) domains are present at the N-terminus of either the epsin or epsin-related (epsinR) proteins. These proteins have been involved in clathrin-mediated trafficking and are critical for membrane deformation at the site of vesicle budding. While more than one type of these proteins have been described in many eukaryotic cells, the protozoa parasite Giardia lamblia contains only one member of this ENTH-protein family.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn accurate way to characterize the functional potential of a protein is to analyze recognized protein domains encoded by the genes in a given group. The epsin N-terminal homology (ENTH) domain is an evolutionarily conserved protein module found primarily in proteins that participate in clathrin-mediated trafficking. In this work, we investigate the function of the single ENTH-containing protein from the protist Giardia lamblia by testing its function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochim Biophys Acta
March 2015
In the protozoa parasite Giardia lamblia, endocytosis and lysosomal protein trafficking are vital parasite-specific processes that involve the action of the adaptor complexes AP-1 and AP-2 and clathrin. In this work, we have identified a single gene in Giardia encoding a protein containing an ENTH domain that defines monomeric adaptor proteins of the epsin family. This domain is present in the epsin or epsin-related (epsinR) adaptor proteins, which are implicated in endocytosis and Golgi-to-endosome protein trafficking, respectively, in other eukaryotic cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe early branching Giardia lamblia has highly polarized vacuoles, located underneath the plasma membrane, which have at least some of the characteristics of endosomes and of lysosomes. These peripheral vacuoles (PVs) are necessary for nutrient uptake and the maintenance of plasma membrane composition, but whether they carry out sorting and segregation of receptors and ligands is a matter of debate. Here, we showed that the internalization of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to the PVs is highly dynamic in trophozoites with a rate similar to the internalization of the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn Giardia, lysosome-like peripheral vacuoles (PVs) need to specifically coordinate their endosomal and lysosomal functions to be able to successfully perform endocytosis, protein degradation and protein delivery, but how cargo, ligands and molecular components generate specific routes to the PVs remains poorly understood. Recently, we found that delivering membrane Cathepsin C and the soluble acid phosphatase (AcPh) to the PVs is adaptin (AP1)-dependent. However, the receptor that links AcPh and AP1 was never described.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To date, eight assemblages of Giardia lamblia have been described, but only assemblages A and B are known to infect humans. Despite the fact that the genomic, biological, and clinical differences found between these two assemblages has raised the possibility that they may be considered different species, there is relatively limited information on their phenotypic differences. In the present study, we developed monoclonal antibodies against alpha-1 and beta giardin, two immunodominant proteins produced during G.
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