Topic/s of Research:
Mapping the interactome of Trypanosomes
Trypanosomes have evolved specific variations of common eukaryote mechanisms, such as splicing and translation. Given that a) trypanosome versions of ubiquitous proteins harbour significant differences with respect to their mammalian counter parts, and b) protein-protein interactions are crucial for the integrity of multicomponent enzymatic machines we reasoned that key parasite protein-protein interactions involved in essential steps of spliceosomal assembly and ribosomal function would be appropriate targets for a "functional genomic generation" of anti-parasitic drugs.
We propose to identify and map essential interactions of trypanosome proteins involved in trans-splicing and translation using two hybrid techniques. "In silico" and "in vitro" analysis will lead us initially to build a partial map of protein interactions for the above mentioned multimeric complexes from both, African and American trypanosomes. Essential parasite specific protein-protein interactions may be useful in defining molecular targets for novel therapeutic interventions.
Participants per topic:
Martín Vazquez: mvazquez@dna.uba.ar
Cristian Smulski: smulski@ingebi.dna.uba.ar
Maximiliano Juri-Ayub: juriayub@dna.uba.ar
Veronica dos Santos: vsantos@dna.uba.ar
Cristian Rocha: crocha@dc.uba.ar
Gustavo Gudesblat: gegudesblat@yahoo.com.ar
Natalia Bercovich: nataliab@dna.uba.ar
Catalina Atorrasagasti: atorrasagasti@dna.uba.ar
Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Chagas Disease
- INGEBI - School of Sciences-University of Buenos Aires
E-mail: mlevin@dna.uba.ar
WebSite: http/therion.dna.uba.ar/labchagas
Contact person/s: Dr. Mariano J. Levin 54 11 4783 2871 int. 37 or 21
