Entamoeba histolytica is a particularly tenacious parasite. The unique cell amibe generally arrives in the colon after contaminated water and food are ingested – most often in places with poor sanitation infrastructure. Although the majority of the 50 million people who contract it each year suffer from a little more than diarrhea, around 50,000 to 100,000 of them do not survive the meeting. In these cases, E. Histolytica Chew the ulcers in the walls of the colon before moving on to the melting of the parts of the liver. From there, the amibe propagates in the lungs and the brain, where its destruction is ultimately fatal.
For decades, E. Histolytica Perplex researchers find it difficult to explain how the parasite successfully escapes the immune system. But after about two decades of research, a team of microbiologists finally determined E. HistolyticaA knotty strategy: The parasite tends to make fun of the left -wing human cells as a disguise against the body’s immune system. Now microbiologists think they have a plan to fight back. Their Amiba battle strategy is detailed in a study published in the May issue of Parasitology trends.
An enigmatic beginning
“All parasites are sub-studied, but E. Histolytica is particularly enigmatic, “explained at the University of California, the microbiologist of Davis, Katherine Ralston, in a university profile on May 12.” He can kill everything you are launching, all kinds of human cell. “
Ralston is the first author of the new article, but she started studying E. Histolytica During his postdoctoral scholarship in 2011.
“You could see small parts of the broken human cell,” said Ralston about his very first meeting with the parasite. In 2014, she published her first conclusions in Nature On the process, known as trogocytosis.
“It was important [to discover]”, She said.” To design new therapies or vaccines, you should really know how E. Histolytica damages the fabric. »»
It didn’t take RALSTON for a long time to see from the first hand how amoeba can become an absolutely voracious and impatient threat. E. Histolytica Does not consume cells as much as it removes bites when they move through the organs. These injured cells are allowed to flee its contents as E. Histolytica Go to his next targets, hence his name. Histolytic results in “tissue dissolution”.
A macabre costume
In 2022, Ralston discovered a major reason behind the tenacity of the parasite: the amibe develops an ability to escape a crucial part of the human immune system called complementary proteins. These proteins are vital to identify and eradicate foreign cells. To escape them, E. Histolytica Ingette specific proteins of external membranes of human cells, then place these proteins on its own external surface. Two of these molecules prevent these important compliment proteins from fixing and retaluating. Basically, E. Histolytica Bears pieces of human cells such as a disguise against the immune system of its host.
However, yet another complication for taming E. Histolytica Remained – its complexity. The genomic sequence of pathogen is five times greater than that of Salmonella and 2,500 times larger than that of HIV. While scientists have sequenced E. Histolytica’s Genomic sequence in 2005, it took eight years for researchers to analyze the bioinformation sufficiently entirely to identify a potential breakthrough in the control of the parasite. In 2013, a separate study indicated E. Histolytic has shown a cellular process known as RNA inhibition (ARNI) to control its gene expression. Quickly eight -year -old, when the Ralston team created an Arni library which finally allowed experts to selectively inhibit each of the 8,734 genes in the parasite.
The battle plan
The latest Ralston study presents one of the most promising steps to date E. Histolytic: a battle plan. The team offers to combine its Arni library with the editing technology of CRISPR genes in order to label certain Amiba proteins with fluorescent markers. Researchers can then look at how E. Histolytica Interacts with proteins before modifying or deleting various proteins and genes. From there, they can be able to identify which portions are crucial for the proliferation and disguise of the Amibe. By ultimately targeting them with tailor -made medicines, researchers could soon stop E. Histolyticadried.
“We now see a light at the end of the tunnel, and we think it could be feasible,” said Wesley Huang, one of the co-authors of the new study with Maura Ruyechan.
With almost all the parts in place, scientists approach the development of vaccines and drug diets to face E. Histolytica. Despite their size, to face microscopic problems like this often takes years to accomplish.
“Science is a construction process,” said Ralston. “You have to build one tool on another, until you are finally ready to discover new treatments.”
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