Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidase in complex with a neutralizing antibody: structure/function studies towards the rational design of inhibitors.

ABSTRACT: Trans-sialidase (TS), a virulence factor from Trypanosoma cruzi, is an enzyme playing key roles in the biology of this protozoan parasite. Absent from the mammalian host, it constitutes a potential target for the development of novel chemotherapeutic drugs, an urgent need to combat Chagas' disease. TS is involved in host cell invasion and parasite survival in the bloodstream. However, TS is also actively shed by the parasite to the bloodstream, inducing systemic effects readily detected during the acute phase of the disease, in particular, hematological alterations and triggering of immune cells apoptosis, until specific neutralizing antibodies are elicited. These antibodies constitute the only known submicromolar inhibitor of TS's catalytic activity. We now report the identification and d

SUBMITTER: Buschiazzo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3252381 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature