Trojan horse bacteria use nanobodies to conquer sleeping sickness
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - 19:00
in Biology & Nature
Sleeping sickness, caused by the trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei, is transmitted to humans (and animals) via the bite of the tsetse fly. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Microbial Cell Factories uses a bacteria, which naturally lives in the fly, to release nanobodies (antibody fragments) against the trypanosome. These antibodies, which bind to the surface of the parasite, are the first stage in producing targeted nanobodies which could kill, or block, trypanosome development.