Evaluation of STATs activation in JAK/STAT pathway in co-infection with two Trypanosoma cruzi strains on human macrophages

• Grant number: 17/19359-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2017
• End date: October 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Renato Arruda Mortara
• Grantee: Gabriela Dantas de Oliveira Vieira
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/15000-4 - Trypanosoma cruzi: intra and interspecific genomic variability and mechanisms of cell invasion/egress, AP.TEM

Abstract

Chagas' disease is considered the endemic disease with the greatest impact on morbidity and mortality in Latin America, affecting approximately 8 million people worldwide, whose etiological agent is the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. The disease has acute, indeterminate and chronic phases, and the various symptoms related to the infection are a consequence of pathogen persistence. For its intracellular permanence, the parasite modulates the host cell changing the expression of proteins. One important transcription factor pathway that has demonstrated trypanocidal cellular action and can be modulated by T. cruzi for the infection benefit is the JAK / STAT gene transcription pathway. Phylogenetically distinct parasites present specific tissue tropism and infection course, in addition of different infectivity patterns when they cohabit the same host. Our aim will be to evaluate the course of the co-infection of two strains of T. cruzi (G and CL) in human macrophages compared to simple infections. In addition, we will analyze whether differential phosphorylation of STATs occurs and whether these are related to the modulation of parasites in host cells. (AU)