Target Identification and Intervention Strategies against Kinetoplastid Protozoan Parasites.

Abstract

The past few decades have been marked by numerous admirable research efforts and promising technological advancements in the field of research on protozoan parasites. The parasites of this genre cause some devastating diseases that pose alarming threat to the mankind. Though several intervention strategies have been developed to get rid of these parasites, they always seem to frustrate the efforts of the scientific community sooner or later. The intervention strategies include identification of novel drug targets, development of target-based therapy, and development of vaccines. that provide significant impetus in the field of research pertaining to these parasites. In this context, several reviews have appeared in the past few years elucidating different drug targets in these parasites. For example, Das et al. [1], Balana-Fouce et al. [2], and others have described the role of topoisomerases as potential drug targets in these kinetoplastid protozoa. Urbina [3] has described the lipid biosynthetic pathway as a possible chemotherapeutic target whereas McConville [4] has elucidated the potential of parasite surface glycoconjugates as possible drug targets. Other targets include cysteine peptidases [5] and histone deacetylases [6] of the trypanosomatid parasites.