Scientist in developing countries maintain trypanosomes in laboratory animals for in vivo experiments. We generated data on the adaptation of Trypanosoma brucei (NITR201 strain) in balb/c mice (forty-five, 18-23 g), wistar rats (fifteen, 180-220 g) and New Zealand white and chinchilla rabbits (fifteen, 2.8-3.0 kg) in a controlled experimental system. The weight, haematological parameters, cours...

During infection in mammals, the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei transforms from a proliferative bloodstream form to a quiescent form that is pre-adapted to host transition. AMP analogs are known to induce quiescence and also inhibit TbTOR4. To examine the role of AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) in the regulation of this developmental transition, we characterized trypanosome TbAMPK complexes....

Unicellular parasites have developed sophisticated swimming mechanisms to survive in a wide range of environments. Cell motility of African trypanosomes, parasites responsible for fatal illness in humans and animals, is crucial both in the insect vector and the mammalian host. Using millisecond-scale imaging in a microfluidics platform along with a custom made optical trap, we are able to confi...

Microarray is a powerful and cheap method to identify and quantify gene expression in particular in a mix of total RNA extracted from biological samples such as the tsetse fly gut, including several organisms (here, the fly tissue and the intestinal microorganisms). Besides, biostatistics and bioinformatics allow comparing the transcriptomes from samples collected from differently treated flies...

Tsetse flies (Glossina sp.) that transmit trypanosomes causing human (and animal) African trypanosomiasis (HAT and AAT, respectively) harbor symbiotic microorganisms, including the obligate primary symbiont Wigglesworthia glossinidia. A relationship between Wigglesworthia and tsetse fly infection by trypanosomes has been suggested, as removal of the symbiont results in a higher susceptibility t...

Phospholipases are a complex and important group of enzymes widespread in nature, that play crucial roles in diverse biochemical processes and are classified as A(1), A(2), C, and D. Phospholipases A(1) and A(2) activities have been linked to pathogenesis in various microorganisms, and particularly in pathogenic protozoa they have been implicated in cell invasion. Kinetoplastids are a group of ...

From May to November 2005, a study was carried out to assess the occurrence of trypanocidal drug resistance (DR) in trypanosomes of naturally infected cattle of the Adamaoua region of Cameroon. Two distinct Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) procedures were used together with an Allele specific-PCR (AS-PCR) and the standardized single-dose mouse test. ...

Essential oils (EOs) from Cymbopogon citratus (CC), Eucalyptus citriodora (EC), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (ED), and Citrus sinensis (CS) were obtained by hydrodistillation process. The EOs were evaluated in vitro for activity against Trypanosoma brucei brucei (Tbb) and Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi). The EOs were found to possess antitrypanosomal activity in vitro in a dose-dependent pattern in ...

We describe a novel gene family that forms clusters in subtelomeric regions of Trypanosoma brucei chromosomes and partially accounts for the observed clustering of retrotransposons. The ingi and ribosomal inserted mobile element (RIME) non-LTR retrotransposons share 250 bp at both extremities and are the most abundant putatively mobile elements, with about 500 copies per haploid genome. From cD...

From a whole-organism high throughput screen of approximately 87000 compounds against Trypanosoma brucei brucei, we recently identified eight new unique compounds for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis. In an effort to understand the structure-activity relationships around these compounds, we report for the first time our results on a new class of trypanocides, the pyrazine carboxam...