Alba-domain proteins are RNA-binding proteins found in archaea and eukaryotes and recently studied in protozoan parasites where they play a role in the regulation of virulence factors and stage-specific proteins. This work describes in silico structural characterization, cellular localization and biochemical analyses of Alba-domain proteins in Leishmania infantum. We show that in contrast to ot...

Protein kinase inhibitors have emerged as new drugs in various therapeutic areas, including leishmaniasis, an important parasitic disease. Members of the Leishmania casein kinase 1 (CK1) family represent promising therapeutic targets. Leishmania casein kinase 1 isoform 2 (CK1.2) has been identified as an exokinase capable of phosphorylating host proteins, thus exerting a potential immune-suppre...

Visceral leishmaniasis is caused by the dimorphic protozoan Leishmania donovani, which exists as an aflagellar amastigote within mammalian mononuclear phagocytes and as a flagellated extracellular promastigote in its sandfly vector. We have identified four plant lectins that bind to the L. donovani surface, and through these we have documented stage-specific differences in exposed surface carbo...

The life stages of Leishmania spp. include the infectious promastigote and the replicative intracellular amastigote. Each stage is phagocytosed by macrophages during the parasite life cycle. We previously showed that caveolae, a subset of cholesterol-rich membrane lipid rafts, facilitate uptake and intracellular survival of virulent promastigotes by macrophages, at least in part, by delaying pa...

The serodiagnosis of Chagas' disease, a highly prevalent disorder in South American countries, is usually made by the detection of antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote antigen. In this study, we assess the diagnostic performance of the immunofluorescence test with T. cruzi (Y strain) amastigote antigen from an LLC-MK2-infected cell supernatant in comparison with a test with the conventi...

Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that comprises different phylogenetic groups and is the causative agent of Chagas' disease. Different T. cruzi strains present differences in infectivity in in vitro and in vivo experimental models, which are likely related to the expression of different virulence factors. Amastin is a surface glycoprotein abundantly expressed on the intracellular mamma...

Plants used for traditional medicine contain a wide range of substances that can be used to treat various diseases such as infectious diseases. The present study was designed to evaluate the antileishmanial effects of the essential oil and methanolic extract of Myrtus communis against Leishmania tropica on an in vitro model. Antileishmanial effects of essential oil and methanolic extract of M. ...