Last Updated: 31/01/2025

Exosomes: novel intercellular communicators and their application as therapeutic agents in parasitic diseases

Objectives

To provide the most relevant findings of the involvement of EVs in inter-cellular communication, modulation of immune responses, involvement in pathology and their potential as new diagnostics tools and therapeutic agents in some of the major human parasitic pathogens.

Principal Investigators / Focal Persons

Hernando A. Del Portillo Obando

Rationale and Abstract

Parasitic diseases have affected humans since their emergence on Earth. These include diseases related to poverty such as malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax, Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and fascioliasis caused by F. hepatica.

The hypothesis is that exosomes derived from these three human infections act in inter-cellular communication facilitating the establishment of infections. Moreover, the parasite-specific proteins associated with these exosomes will permit the identification of new antigens for vaccination, and the use of human reticulocyte-derived exosomes will serve as a new vehicle for antigen delivery and presentation to develop vaccines against these neglected tropical diseases.

Date

Mar 2014 — Mar 2018

Total Project Funding

$137,303

Funding Details
Project Site

Spain

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