Kinome-wide functional analysis of Leishmania growth and differentiation

Leishmania species are parasitic protozoa that are the causative agents of a spectrum of diseases, the leishmaniases. Little is known about the signalling pathways that regulate key events in the parasites’ life cycles and which protein kinases are essential and therefore potentially amenable to chemotherapeutic modulation.

To address this, I will perform gain-of-function and loss-of-function screens in Leishmania mexicana to identify genes involved in signalling pathways regulating parasite differentiation during transition between animal and sandfly hosts. It is expected that some genes will also be identified that are essential for proliferation and survival of Leishmania once an infection is established in the mammalian host.

The expected output of the project will be novel insights into protein kinase function in Leishmania and a holistic overview of cell signalling pathways that will integrate into ongoing ‘omics’ analyses within the Leishmania community.