Grant: Operating Grant

The protozoan parasite Leishmania is the causative agent of leishmaniasis, a disease that is characterized by clinical symptoms ranging from disfiguring lesion to death in the absence of drug treatment. Presently no effective vaccine is available for immunization against this disease and the drugs that are used to treat these infections have moderate-highly toxic side effects, require hospitalization, and are expensive. Of greater concern however, is the up surge in leishmaniasis in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with the emergence of drug resistant Leishmania. The aim of our research is to identify unique biological features in Leishmania that can be exploited for the development of new drugs that selectively target this parasite. Perhaps one of the most unique structural features found in Leishmania is small round microbody called the glycosome, which contains a large number of enzymes needed for energy production or synthesis of new molecules. Correct targeting of these proteins to the glycosome is crucial for parasite survival. Efforts in my laboratory focus on understanding the molecular machinery involved in the assembly of the glycosome. This knowledge will ultimately be used to design new classes of drugs that block the import of proteins into the glycosome, an event that is lethal to the parasite.