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Media Centre > News > Newsletters >
Issue 9 |
British Society for Parasitology meets in Newcastle, UK
Trypanosomes stained with fluorescent nanobodies
Scientists converged in Newcastle at the spring meeting of the British
Society for Parasitology (30 March - 02 April 2008) to confer about new developments in research
on trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis and malaria. FIND, one of the meeting sponsors, gave poster presentations
on strides being made together with other partners in the search for new tests for the diagnosis and staging
of HAT. The approaches being explored include detecting either whole parasites or antigens that are common
to T.b. gambiense and T.b. rhodesiense, the parasites that cause HAT. Some of the technologies use single
chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies, aptamers and nanobodies, which recognize the invariant surface
glycoproteins (ISGs), oligopeptidase B or VSG epitopes, which are common to both human infective parasites.
Dr. Jeremy Sternberg of the University of Aberdeen and Dr. Magdalena Radwanska (FIND) at the poster session
during the BSP meeting in Newcastle
Efforts have also been intensified to develop an antibody detection test by screening a broad range
of recombinant and native trypanosome antigens for specificity and sensitivity, using a panel of well-defined
sera from HAT patients and normal controls.
Scientists present at the meeting appreciated the efforts that FIND is making to close the gap between
fundamental and applied research.
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