Mssystems: using genome technology to develop antiparasitic therapy

December 7, 2019 / biourn / -- researchers from the Genomics Research Institute of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (umsom) have used innovative RNA sequencing technology to identify a new method for the treatment of lymphatic filariasis, which is an incurable disabling parasitosis According to research published today in the Journal of M systems, an experimental anticancer drug named jq1 can effectively kill adults in the laboratory environment by targeting specific proteins in the worm genome Lymphatic filariasis affects more than 120 million people worldwide, most of them in the tropics of Asia, the Western Pacific and Africa, and parts of the Caribbean and South America The disease causes dysfunction of the lymphatic system, swelling of the limbs or swelling of the scrotum in men According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, lymphatic filariasis is the main cause of permanent disability worldwide (image source: www Pixabay Com) although the current treatment can reduce the risk of disease transmission to others, the CDC says it has little effect in alleviating symptoms Studies have shown that doxycycline, an antibiotic, can kill adults and help control mild to moderate lymphedema, but must be taken for 4 to 6 weeks to be effective Dr Julie Dunning hotopp, Professor of Microbiology and immunology at the Institute of genomics, University of Maryland School of medicine, said: "jq1 works by inhibiting the brominated domain containing proteins needed for adult survival." "Based on our observations in the laboratory, we believe that this drug may be more effective than standard therapy in killing adults and may only need to be administered once." Dr Dunning hotopp, together with Dr Matthew Chung, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of genomics, used RNA sequencing to identify genes in parasites that cause lymphatic filariasis They identified overexpression of the gene encoding the bromine domain protein Based on these findings, they and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and the New England biological laboratory decided to test a bromine domain inhibitor, jq1, to see if it could kill adults and find that it could effectively kill worms in the body Their next step is to conduct preclinical studies to test jq1 in infected rodents to see if the drug can eliminate infection If successful, the drug can be tested in human trials Research uses genetics to discover potential new treatment for parallel disease original sources: Matthew Chung, Laura E Teigen, Silvia Libro, Robin E Bromley, Dustin Olley, Nikhil Kumar, Lisa sadzewicz, Luke J Tallon, Anup mahurkar, Jeremy M foster, Michelle L Michalski, Julie C Dunning Hotopp Drug Repurposing of Bromodomain Inhibitors as Potential Novel Therapeutic Leads for Lymphatic Filariasis Guided by Multispecies Transcriptomics mSystems , 2019; 4 (6) DOI: 10.1128/mSystems.00596-19