Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
J Proteomics. 2011 Aug 24;74(9):1504-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2011.02.032. Epub 2011 Mar 6.
Tropical diseases caused by parasitic worms and protists are of major public health concern affecting millions of people worldwide. New therapeutic and diagnostic tools would be of great help in dealing with the public health and economic impact of these diseases. RNA interference (RNAi) pathways utilize small non-coding RNAs to regulate gene expression in a sequence-specific manner. In recent years, a wealth of data about the mechanisms and biological functions of RNAi pathways in distinct groups of eukaryotes has been described. Often, RNAi pathways have unique features that are restricted to groups of eukaryotes. The focus of this review will be on RNAi pathways in specific groups of parasitic eukaryotes that include Trypanosoma cruzi, Plasmodium and Schistosoma mansoni. These parasites are the causative agents of Chagas disease, Malaria, and Schistosomiasis, respectively, all of which are tropical diseases that would greatly benefit from the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools. In this context, we will describe specific features of RNAi pathways in each of these parasitic eukaryotic groups and discuss how they could be exploited for the treatment of tropical diseases.
由寄生虫和原生动物引起的热带病是主要的公共卫生关注问题，影响着全球数百万人。新的治疗和诊断工具将极大地有助于应对这些疾病对公共卫生和经济的影响。RNA 干扰 (RNAi) 途径利用小非编码 RNA 以序列特异性的方式调节基因表达。近年来，大量关于 RNAi 途径在不同真核生物群体中的机制和生物学功能的数据已经被描述。通常，RNAi 途径具有独特的特征，仅限于真核生物群体。本综述的重点将放在包括 Trypanosoma cruzi、Plasmodium 和 Schistosoma mansoni 在内的特定寄生虫真核生物群体中的 RNAi 途径上。这些寄生虫分别是恰加斯病、疟疾和血吸虫病的病原体，所有这些热带病都将极大地受益于新的诊断和治疗工具的开发。在这种情况下，我们将描述这些寄生虫真核生物群体中每个 RNAi 途径的特定特征，并讨论如何利用它们来治疗热带病。
