Use of pathogen and host extracellular vesicles to induce trained immunity conferring protection against infections

Infections caused by parasites are a major global health concern. Many of these diseases occur in low- and middle-income countries, with a high impact on poor communities, and are known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Recently, addressing the lack of funding for research into the treatment and diagnosis of NTDs has become a goal of the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as a goal for years to come. come as a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Malaria, for example, is present in 87 countries and caused up to 229 million cases and 409,000 deaths in 2019, 84% of them among children. This disease is caused by a parasite known as Plasmodium, which is transmitted when a female mosquito feeds on blood. Leishmaniasis is another type of disease caused by the parasite Leishmania, which is also transmitted through the bite of small mosquitoes called sandflies. This disease is present in 98 countries, with 350 million people at risk of infection. Note that no effective vaccine is currently available for these two diseases, and treatments are not always effective, sometimes with undesirable side effects. In the laboratory, work is done with the parasites that cause these diseases, seeking to understand how they survive and why the immune system cannot always control the infection, unlike other infectious diseases. A fascinating and relatively recent discovery is that every cell, including these parasites, can produce small “bags” of information that we call extracellular vesicles (EVs). Extracellular vesicles contain information and serve as a means of communication between cells. Interestingly, parasites can release these extracellular vesicles to manipulate and control body’s immune response.

Project details

Basic Science
Immunology

Apr 2024 — Mar 2026

$30,694

Canada