Lab Research Focus
The overall theme of the research in my laboratory is the application of molecular techniques to the study of the nematode parasite Onchocerca volvulus. This parasite is the cause of river blindness, which is the second largest cause of infectious blindness in the world today. Our long term goals are to develop reagents that may result in the improvement of methods to diagnose the infection, as well as to develop new methods to treat and prevent the disease. With this long term goal in mind, our laboratory is involved in several specific projects. These include the development of DNA based methods to identify the parasite and the transfer of this technology to laboratories in West Africa. This effort has resulted in close collaborations with a number of laboratories in West Africa, which allows us to carry out extensive field based studies in West Africa. The overall goal of these studies has been to apply modern molecular biological techniques to test long standing caveats in the field of onchocerciasis research, and to answer basic biological questions regarding the interaction of the parasite and its insect and human hosts. Most of these questions have not been approachable before the development of new techniques to study the parasite and its vector. For example, we have recently used repeated DNA sequences as systematic tools to study questions relating to the biogeography and evolution of O. volvulus populations. In this vein, a current project aims to determine if there has been co-evolution in the parasite and in the vector black fly species which are responsible for transmitting the infection. A second major project deals with the identification of parasite processes which may be vulnerable to immunotherapeutic or chemotherapeutic attack. For example, we are currently studying hormone receptors responsible for controlling molting in these parasites. Molting is the central developmental theme in these parasites, and an understanding of how this process is controlled may suggest new ways to disrupt parasite development. In a similar manner, the major developmental feature of molting is the synthesis of a new cuticle. The central activity in this process is the enzyme prolyl 4-hydroxylase. For this reason, we are investigating the potential of O. volvulus prolyl 4-hydroxylase as a target for chemotherapeutic attack against the parasite. Finally, onchocerciasis is considered to be an immune mediated disorder, since most of the pathology associated with the infection is not due to the infection itself, but to the host's immune response to that infection. Therefore, an understanding of the mechanisms causing the immune mediated pathology may suggest ways to control the disease process. We are attempting to understand how this pathology develops, and what the role of specific parasite proteins is in initiating this process.
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