MOLECULAR GENETICS OF MEMBRANE TRANSPORT IN LEISHMANIA

This research program focuses on the molecular genetics of the parasitic
protozoan Leishmania, with particular emphasis on functionally
interesting membrane proteins whose expression is regulated during the
life cycle of the parasite. In this proposal, several genes for glucose
transporter-like proteins that are expressed in a developmentally
regulated or stage-specific manner, are studied. An attempt is made to
define the biochemical specificity of each transporter by either over-
expressing the gene or by targeted gene disruption and studying the
subcellular location of each transporter and of several isoforms to
determine whether each is targeted to a different membrane domain. A
study is also being made of the transcription of one of these genes and
attempting to define its promoter, an entity which has not been
previously identified for any Leishmania gene. In a new project separate
from this proposal, a investigation of a family receptor-adenylate
cyclases and their possible roles in signal transduction and in the
developmental transformations which occur during the Leishmania life
cycle. A long term objective for both of these projects is to understand
how the parasite adapts to and survives in the very different
environments of its insect vector and its mammalian host. These
questions are of fundamental importance to understanding both disease
transmission and host colonization for this important pathogen.