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Marilyn Parsons , Ph.D.
Mission
Dr. Parsons’ research uses molecular approaches to identify important cellular differences between parasites and their human hosts that could lead to new therapies.
Research
Among different disease agents, parasites are the most similar to their human hosts. This has made the search for drugs and vaccines highly challenging. Scientists in Dr. Parsons’ laboratory are interested in
identifying differences in cell structure and function between parasites and humans.
The lab studies several parasites including
Trypanosoma brucei (African trypanosomes),
Leishmania, and Toxoplasma gondii. These pathogens are the causative agents of African sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, and toxoplasmosis, respectively.
Up to 300,000-500,000 individuals are estimated
to be infected with African trypanosomes, a tenfold increase since 1980. Left untreated, sleeping sickness is invariably fatal. The World Health Organization estimates that 12 million people are infected with
Leishmania parasites, although some show no signs of disease. Co-infection with HIV however, leads to severe, often fatal, leishmaniasis.
T. gondii infects approximately 50 million Americans,
and causes disease in the immunocompromised. It also is a significant cause of birth defects if the mother becomes infected early in pregnancy.
Dr. Parsons’ interest in these parasites stems from both an interest in their role as important pathogens worldwide and in their basic biology as evolutionarily divergent eukaryotes. Her long-term goal is to identify differences between host and parasite that would be appropriate targets for drug development. Currently, Dr. Parsons’ two focal areas of research are protein phosphorylation and organelle biogenesis
and function in parasitic protozoa. Her lab uses technologies ranging from fluorescence microscopy to yeast two-hybrid interaction screens to molecular genetics to study the functional attributes of these processes.
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Accomplishments |
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Performed a bioninformatic analysis of protein
kinases in trypanosomatids. Protein
kinases are involved in cell regulation and are
important drug targets in human disease. |
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Identified molecules involved in the formation of an essential organelle in
Leishmania and T. brucei. These molecules are required for the formation of the
glycosome, a parasite-specific cell structure that is used in energy generation. The proteins are only distantly related to proteins in the human host. |
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Demonstrated that glucose and other sugars are toxic to parasite mutants defective in glycosome formation. Since glucose is required by the parasite when it lives in the human host, but is toxic to the mutant cells, these studies validate the glycosome as a drug target. |
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Identified molecules required for protein synthesis. Two new molecules required for synthesis of proteins in trypanosomes have been identified. One of these proteins is unique to the parasite, despite participating in a highly conserved process. |
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Examined how proteins are targeted to the
apicoplast, a unique, essential structure in Toxoplasma. This essential structure is related to the chloroplast of plants and has no homologue in humans. |
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Identified the first membrane proteins in
the Toxoplasma apicoplast. |
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These accomplishments will be useful for: |
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Revealing the importance of different cell structures in parasites |
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Insights into parasite survival strategies |
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The potential development of new anti-parasitic agents. |
Collaborations
* Christian de Duve Institute of Cellular Pathology, Brussels
* UCLA
* Vrie Universität
Amsterdam
* Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Detailed Research Project
Information
Dr. Parsons’ research is currently supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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