Virulence and Molecular Cell Biology of Parasites

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Parasitic Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2025 | Viewed by 363

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 1270300, CP, Chile
Interests: Trypanosoma cruzi; virulence; signal transductions; proteomics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over millions of years, parasites have been adapting to different environments and hosts. During this time, they have acquired different molecules, peculiar structures, and organelles, some of which are absent in other living organisms, to successfully invade hosts, proliferate, and evade immune attacks successfully.

The existence of different stages of the same organism, which have different locations, antigenic structures, biochemical behavior, and even different morphology, makes parasites one of the most fascinating biological models. On the other hand, the use of new cellular and molecular biology strategies in addition to “omics” has made it possible to open new possibilities for understanding in detail how they interact with the host and cause disease.

This Special Issue of Pathogens will highlight recent advances in the virulence, molecular, and cell biology of human parasites with a focus on the pathogenesis of parasitic disease, molecular and cell biology, immune response and immune evasion, vaccination, and current developments and the contribution of omics, all of which provide the basis for a complete overview of modern parasitology that will enable the design of strategies for the prevention, control, and eventual eradication of parasitic infections.

Prof. Dr. Jorge Gonzalez
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • parasites
  • virulence
  • molecular cell biology
  • immunity
  • vaccination

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1307 KiB  
Article
3-Bromopyruvate Impairs Mitochondrial Function in Trypanosoma cruzi
by Rafaella Oliveira da Costa, Davi Barreto-Campos, Juliana Barbosa-de-Barros, Giovanna Frechiani, Luiz Fernando Carvalho-Kelly, Ayra Diandra Carvalho-de-Araújo, José Roberto Meyer-Fernandes and Claudia Fernanda Dick
Pathogens 2025, 14(7), 631; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14070631 - 25 Jun 2025
Viewed by 226
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi is a kinetoplastid parasite and etiological agent of Chagas disease. Given the significant morbidity and mortality rates of this parasitic disease, possible treatment alternatives need to be studied. 3-Bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) is a synthetic analog of pyruvate that was introduced in the [...] Read more.
Trypanosoma cruzi is a kinetoplastid parasite and etiological agent of Chagas disease. Given the significant morbidity and mortality rates of this parasitic disease, possible treatment alternatives need to be studied. 3-Bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) is a synthetic analog of pyruvate that was introduced in the early 21st century as an anticancer agent, affecting the proliferation and motility of certain microorganisms. Therefore, this work aims to evaluate the role of 3-BrPA in the energy metabolism, proliferation, and infectivity of T. cruzi, with a primary focus on the mitochondrial state, ATP production, and the key glycolytic pathway enzymes. It was observed that mitochondrial function in 3-BrPA cells was impaired compared to control cells. Accordingly, cells maintained in control conditions have a higher intracellular ATP content than cells maintained with 3-BrPA and higher ecto-phosphatase activity. However, the 3-BrPA reduced ecto-nuclease activity and was capable of hydrolyzing 5′-AMP, ADP, and ATP. When we evaluated two key glycolytic pathway enzymes, glucose kinase (GK) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), we observed that 3-BrPA induced higher GAPDH activity but did not alter GK activity. The compensatory energy mechanisms presented in T. cruzi may influence the process of cell metabolism and, consequently, the functional infectious process, suggesting the potential use of 3-BrPA in future clinical applications for Chagas disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Virulence and Molecular Cell Biology of Parasites)
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