Expression profiling of African trypanosomes in human and primate hosts: identification of biomarkers for diagnosis, drug target identification and dissection of virulence pathways.

Sleeping sickness (or Human African Trypanosomiasis, HAT) is caused by trypanosomes of the Trypanosoma brucei species complex, and it is transmitted through the bite of a tsetse fly. The trypanosomes then go through an initial blood stage, followed by invasion of the brain in what is known as late, or second stage, disease.

This project aims to identify biomolecules that are associated with specific stages of the disease, which can be used to target the right drug intervention or even as diagnostic markers. 

The research is being undertaken through a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship awarded to Vincent Owino Adung’a.

Funding:

  • Wellcome Trust

Implementation Period:

  • January 2014 – December 2016

Collaborators:

  • University of Dundee, United Kingdom
  • University of Makerere, Uganda
  • Biotechnology Research Institute – Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Kenya