Scientific fields

The trypanosome cytoskeleton, flagellum and cell morphogenesis

In construction

The genome of African trypanosomes

African trypanosomes of the species Trypanosoma brucei are extracellular protozoan parasites of the mammalian bloodstream. They survive for long periods in the host bloodstream though a process of antigenic variation involving periodic switching of the major cell surface protein, variable surface glycoprotein. To facilitate this important survival mechanism, there exists in T. brucei a highly specialised gene organisation that includes a large number of minichromosomes (MCs). The presence of such MCs is intimately linked to... >>

The flagellum/cilium of mammalian cells in health and disease

Mucociliary clearance of the respiratory tract by epithelial cell cilia is an important defence mechanism against inhaled pathogens, for instance Bordetella pertussis colonizes the cilia of the mammalian respiratory epithelium, recognising cryptic receptors on cilia surfaces. Defective mucociliary clearance in the respiratory tract leads to recurrent infections by many agents. Ciliary defects may be either congenital or acquired secondarily due to infection,... >>

Nuclear architecture and antigenic variation in Arican trypanosomes

African trypanosomes are responsible for sleeping sickness in humans, an epidemic disease currently affecting up to half a million people. The parasite Trypanosoma brucei alternates between a mammalian host and the tsetse vector during its life cycle. The bloodstream form can undergo antigenic variation by switching the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) surface coat, thus avoiding the host immune response and ensuring a persistent infection. To achieve the expression of a single type of VSG on the surface, only 1 out of... >>