| Project/Area Number |
24390102
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Partial Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Parasitology (including Sanitary zoology)
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| Research Institution | Juntendo University |
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Principal Investigator |
Nara Takeshi 順天堂大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (40276473)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
HASHIMOTO Muneaki 順天堂大学, 医学部, 准教授 (30407308)
TSUBOUCHI Akiko 順天堂大学, 医学部, 助教 (10398662)
MORALES Jorge 順天堂大学, 医学部, 助教 (20596126)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥18,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥14,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥4,260,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥10,660,000 (Direct Cost: ¥8,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,460,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥5,590,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,290,000)
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| Keywords | シャーガス病 / Trypanosoma cruzi / 臓器特異性 / 自然宿主 / 休眠 / 寄生適応進化 / 適応戦略 / 慢性化 / 休眠体 / 生適応進化 / 感染モデル創出 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Chagas disease is caused by infection of the parasitic protist, Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi can persist for decades and 10-30% of the patients enter into the chronic stage, which is characterized by heart failure and/or megadisease. The long-term persistence of pathogens like Toxoplasma is generally associated with a cyst or “a dormant form”. Iralu has reported induction of a cyst-like form of T. cruzi by treatment with urease (Nature 204:486 1964), whereas no further report has described T. cruzi cysts. In the present study, we reanalyzed cyst formation in T. cruzi and found that a lectin, concanavalin A (ConA), can successfully induce the cyst formation. T. cruzi epimastigotes treated with ConA developed a large vacuole inside the cell and the organelles began to divide in the cytoplasm. Our findings provide important insights into the mechanism of transmission and persistence of the parasite.
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