Extent of polymorphism and selection pressure on the Trypanosoma cruzi vaccine candidate antigen Tc24.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a major public health problem in the Americas, and existing drugs have severe limitations. In this context, a vaccine would be an attractive alternative for disease control. One of the difficulties in developing an effective vaccine lies in the high genetic diversity of T. cruzi. In this study, we evaluated the level of sequence diversity of the leading vaccine candidate Tc24 in multiple parasite strains.

Methods and results

We quantified its level of polymorphism within and between T. cruzi discrete typing units (DTUs) and how this potential polymorphism is structured by different selective pressures. We observed a low level of polymorphism of Tc24 protein, weakly associ

SUBMITTER: Arnal A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7691455 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature