The aim of this work was determining the role of
Protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathway in apoptosis of
Leishmania tropica promastigotes, through studying effects of PKC
specific inhibitor Staurosporine (STS) on the parasite. Our results
showed
that treated L. tropica with Staurosporine was
enough to inhibit PKC pathway completely, while viability test
showed that the concentration of STS to inhibit cell growth by 50%
(IC50 = 2.146μM).
Kinetoplastid membrane protein-11 (KMP-11), a protein present in all kinetoplastid
protozoa studied up to date, is considered a potential vaccine candidate for Leishmaniasis.
Such vaccine molecules must be expressed in amastigotes which represent t
he infective
forms for mammals, while promastigotes are the flagellate forms found in the insect hosts.
However, the expression of KMP-11 in amastigotes is still a subject of controversy. In this
study, a strain of L. tropica was isolated, cultivated, and genotyped. The expression of
KMP-11 gene in this strain was evaluated in promastigotes and in amastigotes by RT-PCR
using specific primer pairs. The results proved the presence of mRNA of KMP-11 in both
promastigotes and amastigotes forms of L. tropica. The expression of this molecule in
amastigotes is consistent with the previously demonstrated immunoprotective capacity of
KMP-11 DNA vaccine as well as the presence of humoral and cellular immune responses
against KMP-11 in Leishmania-infected animals.
Leishmaniasis spreads in eighty-eight countries, including the Syrian Arab
Republic. This disease is caused by a protozoic parasite of the genus
Leishmania. Twenty-two species of leishmania were reported to be pathogenic
for human. The disease is
presented in three clinical forms: cutaneous,
mucocutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. A set of methods for diagnosis and
identifying the type of parasite have been developed in order to give
appropriate treatment. These methods include isoenzyme analysis, serological
and immunological methods and DNA hybridization. The polymerase chain
reaction (PCR), using genomic or kinetoplastid DNA; provides an excellent tool
for diagnosis and characterization of leishmania species. In this work, the two
types of DNA were extracted in one step from cultured isolates taken from
patients. We have used kinetoplastid DNA and specific primers to determine
parasite species by PCR. These primers amplify species specific fragment. In
this study, we have determined that the causative species of the cutaneous
leishmaniasis in all patients was L.tropica.
