Trypanosoma brucei genomics and the challenge of identifying drug and vaccine targets

There have been tremendous advances in our knowledge of trypanosome biology, yet many aspects remain unclear. Currently, the genome of Trypanosome brucei is being sequenced and this, with other genome-wide analysis methods, could provide novel insights into the parasite and facilitate the developmen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in microbiology (Regular ed.) 2003-07, Vol.11 (7), p.322-329
Main Authors: Agbo, Eddy C., Majiwa, Phelix A.O., Büscher, Philippe, Claassen, Eric, te Pas, Marinus F.W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
african trypanosomes
Animals
Drug Design
expressed sequence tags
gene-expression
Genome, Protozoan
haptoglobin-related protein
human-serum
kinetoplast dna network
plasmodium-falciparum
rna interference
sleeping-sickness
surface-proteins
Trypanosoma brucei brucei - genetics
Trypanosoma brucei brucei - immunology
Trypanosomiasis - blood
Trypanosomiasis - drug therapy
Trypanosomiasis - immunology
Trypanosomiasis - prevention & control
Vaccines
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Summary:There have been tremendous advances in our knowledge of trypanosome biology, yet many aspects remain unclear. Currently, the genome of Trypanosome brucei is being sequenced and this, with other genome-wide analysis methods, could provide novel insights into the parasite and facilitate the development of effective controls. An important new challenge investigators face is how to exploit the information in studying a parasite with so many genetic peculiarities. Here, we summarize our current understanding of molecular genetics of T. brucei and attempt to link genome analysis to the prospects for identifying possible targets for vaccines, novel drugs and specific diagnostics. The value of newly developed genotyping approaches in accelerating these processes is discussed.
ISSN:0966-842X
1878-4380
DOI:10.1016/S0966-842X(03)00151-3