PREP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Student in the CVM and USDA NSTP Fellow ( and Former PREP Scholar )
Job Titles:
- Student in the CVM and My Lab Manager
Job Titles:
- Student in Warnell and ICON ( Integrative Conservation Program )
Recently, it has become clear that all organisms release small membrane bound vesicles that deliver macromolecules to neighboring and distant cells. It has also been observed that extracellular vesicles (EVs) play important roles in cancer metastasis and disease pathology caused by infectious agents. The Hajduk lab discovered African trypanosomes, the causative agents of human African sleeping sickness and a related cattle disease Nagana, produce EVs during infection. Trypanosome derived EVs interact with host cells and contribute to the pathology associated with infection. Several projects are currently planned to examine the mechanism of interaction of parasite EVs with the host and the molecular signals carried by trypanosome EVs. The PREP@UGA Scholar in our lab will work with postdoctoral fellow, Michael Cipriano, and will learn techniques related to:
Cell culture methods for African trypanosomes and mammalian cells.
Live cell imaging and fluorescence microscopy.
Flow cytometry to evaluate host immune modulation by parasite EVs.
Nucleic acid isolation and sequence to determine whether trypanosome RNAs are delivered to host cells.
Molecular cloning and mutagenesis of trypanosome genes to evaluate the function of EV associated proteins and RNAs.