| Grant number: | 13/13119-6 |
| Support Opportunities: | Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants |
| Duration: | August 01, 2014 - July 31, 2020 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites |
| Principal Investigator: | Daniel Youssef Bargieri |
| Grantee: | Daniel Youssef Bargieri |
| Host Institution: | Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| Associated researchers: | Fabio Trindade Maranhão Costa ; Irene da Silva Soares ; Maurício Martins Rodrigues ; Silvia Beatriz Boscardin |
| Associated grant(s): | 21/06769-0 - Discovery of vaccine targets and compounds against Malaria transmission, AP.JP2 |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 16/16649-4 - Expression, purification and immunological analysis of p. berghei MTRAP,
BP.MS 16/14207-4 - Establishment of blood forms cultures of Babesia bovis and of ox endothelial cells for infection tests, BP.IC 14/23083-1 - Plasmodium vivax vaccine development and antigen discovery using P. berghei malaria models., BP.DR |
Abstract
Hemoparasites are parasites that multiply inside the bloodstream. Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria in mammals, and Babesia, the causative agent of babesiosis, are hemoparasites belonging to the phylum apicomplexa that invade and multiply inside erythrocytes. These parasites are a huge problem for human and animal health. Plasmodium is the most important human parasite with an estimated annual death toll of 1 million people. Babesia in bovines is responsible for an immense financial loss in agribusiness around the world. This project has two focuses. First to study Babesia cell biology using mutants, applying the recently available technique of transfection of B. bovis and mutation by double crossing over. Second, to generate a platform for pre-clinical tests of vaccine formulations against the malaria caused by P. vivax, the most prevalent in Brazil, by the generation of mutant hybrid murine Plasmodium (P. berghei) expressing antigens of P. vivax. The results of this project will help us to better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the blood cycle of Babesia, leading to the development of new control alternatives and possibly allowing the proposition of this parasite as a model to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms that are conserved in the phylum apicomplexa. Moreover, the generation of mutant murine plasmodia for pre-clinical vaccine trials against P. vivax will fill a gap in this field, accelerating the process of testing vaccine formulations and ultimately the development of a vaccine against the most prevalent malaria in Brazil. It is important to note that in the state of Sao Paulo (or in Brazil) there are no laboratories working with reverse genetics in Plasmodium, a gap to be filled in Brazilian malariology. Moreover, very few laboratories in the world, none in Brazil, work with cellular biology and reverse genetics of Babesia bovis. These aspects emphasize the innovative character of this project. (AU)
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