The Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology, Cambridge
The Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology was a biological research institute in the University of Cambridge, UK, situated on the Downing Site and founded in response to an appeal by the Quick Professor by a $150 000 gift from Mr & Mrs Percy Alport Molteno in 1919.[1] When it opened in 1921[2] it was the first parasite biology institute to be established.[3] Between 1947 and 1964 the MRC (Medical Research Council) Chemotherapy Research Unit was based in 'the Molteno', but research into parasitology continued alongside. Later, between 1968 and 1987, 'the Molteno' became fully occupied by the MRC as their Biochemical Parasitology Unit and totally dedicated to research into parasitology,[4][5][6][7] although the building was still rented from the University of Cambridge. In September 1987 it became part of the University of Cambridge's Pathology Department. Notable workers include Ann Bishop, Douglas Mackay Henderson, David Keilin, Thaddeus Mann and Brunó Ferenc Straub.
↑ Barker, Douglas C; Gibson, Lorna J; Kennedy, W Peter; Nasser, Altaf A; Williams, Roger H (1986). "The potential of using recombinant DNA species-specific probes for the identification of tropical Leishmania". Parasitology. 92: S139–S174. doi:10.1017/s0031182000085747. PMID3012443. S2CID35956895.
↑ Schmitz, Brigitte; Klein, Roger A; Duncan, Imogen A; Egge, Heinz; Gunawan, Johannes; Peter-Katalinic, Jasna; Dabrowski, U; Dabrowski, J (1987). "MS and NMR analysis of the cross-reacting determinant glycan from Trypanosoma brucei brucei MITat 1.6 variant specific glycoprotein". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 146 (3): 1055–1063. doi:10.1016/0006-291X(87)90754-6. PMID2441699.
Trypanosomatida is a group of kinetoplastid unicellular organisms distinguished by having only a single flagellum. The name is derived from the Greek trypano (borer) and soma (body) because of the corkscrew-like motion of some trypanosomatid species. All members are exclusively parasitic, found primarily in insects. A few genera have life-cycles involving a secondary host, which may be a vertebrate, invertebrate or plant. These include several species that cause major diseases in humans. Some trypanosomatida are intracellular parasites, with the important exception of Trypanosoma brucei.
Trypanosomiasis or trypanosomosis is the name of several diseases in vertebrates caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes of the genus Trypanosoma. In humans this includes African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease. A number of other diseases occur in other animals.
The Quick Professorship of Biology is one of the senior professorships in biology at the University of Cambridge.
Trypanosoma is a genus of kinetoplastids, a monophyletic group of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. Trypanosoma is part of the phylum Sarcomastigophora. The name is derived from the Greek trypano- (borer) and soma (body) because of their corkscrew-like motion. Most trypanosomes are heteroxenous and most are transmitted via a vector. The majority of species are transmitted by blood-feeding invertebrates, but there are different mechanisms among the varying species. Some, such as Trypanosoma equiperdum, are spread by direct contact. In an invertebrate host they are generally found in the intestine, but normally occupy the bloodstream or an intracellular environment in the vertebrate host.
Trypanosoma brucei is a species of parasitic kinetoplastid belonging to the genus Trypanosoma that is present in sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike other protozoan parasites that normally infect blood and tissue cells, it is exclusively extracellular and inhabits the blood plasma and body fluids. It causes deadly vector-borne diseases: African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in humans, and animal trypanosomiasis or nagana in cattle and horses. It is a species complex grouped into three subspecies: T. b. brucei, T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense. The first is a parasite of non-human mammals and causes nagana, while the latter two are zoonotic infecting both humans and animals and cause African trypanosomiasis.
Trypanosoma evansi is a parasitic species of excavate trypanosome in the genus Trypanosoma that is one cause of surra in animals. Discovered by Griffith Evans in 1880 at Dera Ismail Khan, it is the first known trypanosome that causes infection. It is a common parasite in India and Iran and causes acute disease in camels and horses, and chronic disease in cattle and buffalo. In Pakistan, it has been found to be the most prevalent trypanosome species in donkeys. It is now established to infect other mammals, including humans.
David Keilin FRS was a Jewish scientist focusing mainly on entomology.
George Henry Falkiner Nuttall FRS was an American-British bacteriologist who contributed much to the knowledge of parasites and of insect carriers of diseases. He made significant innovative discoveries in immunology, about life under aseptic conditions, in blood chemistry, and about diseases transmitted by arthropods, especially ticks. He carried out investigations into the distribution of Anopheline mosquitoes in England in relation to the previous prevalence of malaria there. With William Welch he identified the organism responsible for causing gas gangrene.
Ascofuranone is an antibiotic produced by various ascomycete fungi including Acremonium sclerotigenum that inhibits the Trypanosoma brucei alternative oxidase and is a lead compound in efforts to produce other drugs targeting this enzyme for the treatment of sleeping sickness. The compound is effective both in vitro cell culture and in infections in mice.
The enzyme glycosylphosphatidylinositol diacylglycerol-lyase catalyzes the reaction
A Trypanosomiasis vaccine is a vaccine against trypanosomiasis. No effective vaccine currently exists, but development of a vaccine is the subject of current research.
Wendy Gibson is Professor of Protozoology at University of Bristol, specialising in trypanosomes and molecular parasitology.
Ann Bishop was a British biologist from Girton College at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the few female Fellows of the Royal Society. She was born in Manchester but stayed at Cambridge for the vast majority of her professional life. Her specialties were protozoology and parasitology; early work with ciliate parasites, including the one responsible for blackhead disease in the domesticated turkey, lay the groundwork for her later research. While working towards her doctorate, Bishop studied parasitic amoebae and examined potential chemotherapies for the treatment of amoebic diseases including amoebic dysentery.
3′,5′-cyclic-AMP phosphodiesterase (EC 3.1.4.53, cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase, cAMP-specific PDE, PDE1, PDE2A, PDE2B, PDE4, PDE7, PDE8, PDEB1, PDEB2) is an enzyme with systematic name 3′,5′-cyclic-AMP 5′-nucleotidohydrolase. It catalyses the following reaction
Variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) is a ~60kDa protein which densely packs the cell surface of protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Trypanosoma. This genus is notable for their cell surface proteins. They were first isolated from Trypanosoma brucei in 1975 by George Cross. VSG allows the trypanosomatid parasites to evade the mammalian host's immune system by extensive antigenic variation. They form a 12–15 nm surface coat. VSG dimers make up ~90% of all cell surface protein and ~10% of total cell protein. For this reason, these proteins are highly immunogenic and an immune response raised against a specific VSG coat will rapidly kill trypanosomes expressing this variant. However, with each cell division there is a possibility that the progeny will switch expression to change the VSG that is being expressed. VSG has no prescribed biochemical activity.
Trypanosoma vivax is a parasite species in the genus Trypanosoma. It causes the disease nagana, affecting cattle or wild mammals. It is mainly occurs in West Africa, although it has spread to South America.
Parasitology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the area of parasitology, including the biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, ecology and epidemiology of eukaryotic parasites, and the relationship between the host and the parasite. It was established in 1908 and is published fourteen times a year by Cambridge University Press. The editor-in-chief is John Russell Stothard.
Wang Yinglai, also known as Ying-Lai Wang, was a Chinese biochemist recognized as the first person to create synthetic insulin, a major scientific breakthrough that produced a biologically active compound from inorganic chemicals. He was one of the first group of scientists elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955. He founded the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry in 1958 and served as its director until his retirement in 1984.
Keith Roland Matthews,, , is a British cell biologist and parasitologist, currently Professor of Parasite Biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on African trypanosomes, which cause human sleeping sickness and the equivalent cattle disease nagana.
Parr Tate was an Irish parasitologist, particularly known for his research on malaria. He spent his entire academic career in Cambridge, England, where he was Reader in Parasitology (1949–68) and head of the Department of Parasitology at the University of Cambridge, director of the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology (1953–68), and one of the founding fellows of what is now Wolfson College, Cambridge. He was the editor of the journal Parasitology (1952–68).
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