Determination of LeiFABP subcellular location in L. amazonensis

• Grant number: 20/07465-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2020
• End date: November 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Maria Fernanda Laranjeira da Silva
• Grantee: Marco Antonio Mendes Gomes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Leishmania parasites are the causative agents of a group of diseases collectively known as leishmaniases. These neglected tropical diseases are endemic in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, where more than 1 billion people live in areas at risk of contracting the disease. There are no available vaccines and the existing treatments are highly toxic and inefficient. It is known that during infection, Leishmania needs to acquire host fatty-acids and lipids to survive and proliferate. Considering the crucial role of Fatty-Acid Binding Proteins (FABPs) in lipid metabolism, we looked for proteins containing FABP-like domains in Leishmania genome and identified a putative L. mexicana gene (LeiFABP), which encodes a hypothetical FABP-like protein that is strongly conserved. Thus, the objective of this project is to initiate the functional characterization of LeiFABP in L. amazonensis by evaluating its expression and determining its subcellular localization in the two life forms of the parasite.