Metabolomic systems biology of protozoan parasites

Abstract

Infectious diseases caused by protozoan parasites lead to a substantial health burden and mortality in developing countries. The search for better drugs and optimized treatment regimes justifies basic research into the biology of these organisms. At the same time, these deep-branching eukaryotes are interesting model organisms for systems biology: their unicellular parasitic life style, the associated reduced metabolic capacity together with some unique genomic adaptations allow comprehensive studies that are not easily possible in multicellular organisms. They can therefore be used to explore advanced concepts and technologies, before they are applied to more complex systems. This chapter presents case studies of metabolomics systems biology on two major protozoan pathogens, the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei, causative agent of sleeping sickness, and the Leishmania donovani parasites responsible for visceral leishmaniasis, also known as kala-azar, on the Indian subcontinent.