21st Annual Student Research Conference
The Proteolytic Processing Of Cryptosporidium gp40/15
Mariam Savabi
Dr. Cynthia Cooper, Faculty Mentor
Cryptosporidium is a tiny water-borne parasite that causes diarrheal disease in immunocompromised patients such as malnourished children and those that suffer from HIV/AIDS. Cryptosporidium sporozoites are transmitted through contaminated water and attach to host cells through a glycoprotein, gp40/15, that must be proteolytically cleaved into gp40 and gp15. The protease that cleaves gp40/15 has not been identified. Two proteases, CpSUB1 and CpSUB2, have been cloned from the Cryptosporidium genome and are candidates for the cleavage reaction. My project was to study different recombinant domains of CpSUB1 and CpSUB2 and to raise antibodies to the different domains. The antibodies will be used to determine if either protease is involved in the cleavage reaction using Western blot, immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence assay. Future work will include a search for inhibitors of the protease that could be developed into therapeutic treatment for cryptosporidiosis.
Keywords: Cryptosporidium , Parasitology, Immunology, Antibodies, Purification
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 30-3
Location: VH 1432
Time: 1:45