| Grant number: | 13/16478-7 |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |
| Start date: | October 01, 2013 |
| End date: | March 31, 2016 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Biochemistry of Microorganisms |
| Principal Investigator: | Walter Colli |
| Grantee: | Walter Colli |
| Host Institution: | Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| Associated researchers: | Emmanuel Dias-Neto ; Maria Julia Manso Alves ; Paulo Lee Ho ; Ricardo Jose Giordano |
Abstract
Chagas disease is a chronic illness and an important health issue in Brazil, Latin America, and more recently in the world due to the steady increase in migration to developed countries. There is no vaccine and existing therapies relay mostly on old drugs with limited efficacy and toxic side effects. The conclusion of the genome of Trypanosoma cruzi strain CL Brener has been greeted as a landmark in the field, and with the genome of other strains of the parasite on the way, there is great hope that new therapeutic targets will be identified. However, for this goal to be achieved, one must fully comprehend the information encoded in the parasite genome. For example, and similar to other organisms, half of the genes identified in the genome of T.cruzi are still annotated as hypothetical. This represents a significant gap in our knowledge and an enormous potential for the development of novel therapeutic approaches for this disease that is still hidden in the genome of the parasite. To help annotate the function of part of these hypothetical genes, we will use combinatorial approaches to explore the genome of T.cruzi. Genome shotgun libraries will be built and utilized to identify novel genes involved in adhesion to extracellular matrix and cells or otherwise important for cell invasion. Our expectation is that this work will lead to the identification and functional characterization of proteins important for parasite infection, with still unknown functions. We believe this work will thus contribute to the development of novel therapies for Chagas disease. (AU)
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