A standard parasite could someday transport drugs to the brain – how scientists turn “Toxoplasma gondii” from enemy into friend

Parasites exact an infinite toll on the health of humans and animals. However, researchers could have found a solution to turn patients with brain diseases and a standard brain parasite into enemies.

A brand new study published in Natural Microbiology was the primary to develop using a single-cell parasite, , to inject therapeutic proteins into brain cells. The brain may be very picky about what it allows, including many drugs, which limits the treatment options for neurological diseases.

As Professor of MicrobiologyI've dedicated my profession to finding ways to kill dangerous parasites like , and I'm fascinated by the prospect that we would find a way to make use of their weapons to treat other diseases.

Microbes as medicine

Since scientists realized that microscopic organisms could cause disease – within the nineteenth century Germ theory of disease – Humanity is trying to find ways to maintain infectious agents out of its body. The comprehensible aversion of many individuals to germs makes the concept of ​​using these microbial enemies for therapeutic purposes perhaps seem counterintuitive.

But the prevention and treatment of disease by interfering with the very microbes that threaten us has a history that goes back long before germ theory. Already within the sixteenth centuryIn the Middle East and Asia, people noticed that those that were lucky enough to survive smallpox never became infected again. These observations led to the practice of intentionally exposing an uninfected person to material from an infected person's pus-filled wounds—which, unbeknownst to them, contained weakened smallpox viruses—so as to protect them from serious illness.

This concept of vaccination has led to a Abundance of vaccines who’ve saved countless lives.

Viruses, bacteria and parasites have also developed many tricks to penetrate organs reminiscent of the brain and will converted for the administration of medication into the body. Such applications could possibly be: Viruses for gene therapy And Intestinal bacteria for the treatment of intestinal infection often called .

Why can't we just take a pill for brain diseases?

Tablets provide a convenient and effective solution to deliver medicines into the body. Chemical drugs reminiscent of aspirin or penicillin are small and are easily absorbed from the intestine into the bloodstream.

Biological drugs reminiscent of insulin or semaglutide, alternatively, are large and sophisticated molecules that may easily break down within the stomach before they will be absorbed. They are also too large to go through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.

All drugs, especially biologics, have difficulty entering the brain due to the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is a layer of cells that lines the brain's blood vessels and acts like a gatekeeper to stop germs and other unwanted substances from entering the neurons.

offers delivery service for brain cells

Parasites infect all animals, including humansInfection can occur in a wide range of ways, including ingesting spores from the stool of infected cats or eating contaminated meat or water. Toxoplasmosis In otherwise healthy people it causes only mild symptoms, but can have serious consequences in immunocompromised people and the unborn fetus.

Unlike most pathogens, the parasite can cross the blood-brain barrier and enter brain cells. Once inside neurons, it releases a series of proteins that alter gene expression in its hostwhich could be a think about the Behavioral changes it causes in infected animals and humans.

In a brand new study, a global team of researchers hijacks the system uses proteins into its host cell. The team genetically engineered a hybrid protein by combining considered one of its secreted proteins with a Protein called MeCP2that regulates gene activity within the brain – and thus transports MeCP2 piggyback into the neurons. Researchers found that the parasites released the MeCP2 protein hybrid into neurons grown in a Petri dish and into the brains of infected mice.

A genetic defect within the MECP2 gene results in a rare brain development disorder called Straight SyndromeGene therapy studies Use of viruses to deliver the MeCP2 protein to treat Rett syndrome are within the works. If a type of the MeCP2 protein will be delivered into brain cells, it could offer one other treatment option for this currently incurable disease. It could also offer one other treatment option for other neurological problems attributable to faulty proteins, reminiscent of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

The long road lies ahead of us

The path from the laboratory bench to the patient's bed is long and filled with obstacles. One should due to this fact not expect that engineered products will soon be utilized in the clinic.

The obvious complication of using it for medical purposes is that it may possibly cause a severe, lifelong infection that’s currently incurable. Infecting someone with it may possibly damage vital organ systemsincluding the brain, eyes and heart.

Up to one third of the world’s population currently carry of their brains, apparently without incident. Recent studies have linked infection with an increased risk of schizophrenia, rage and recklessness, suggesting that this silent infection Some individuals are susceptible to serious neurological problems.

The widespread nature of the infections may pose an additional complication, because it excludes many individuals from treatment with the vaccine. Because billions of people that already carry the parasite have developed immunity to future infections, therapeutic types of the vaccine could be rapidly destroyed by their immune systems after injection.

In some cases, the advantages of using it as a drug delivery system outweigh the risks. Developing benign types of this parasite could produce the proteins patients need without damaging the organ – the brain – that defines who we’re.