Functional Genomics of Cryptosporidium spp.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Functional Genomics of Cryptosporidium spp.
IRAS ID
340903
Contact name
Georgina Hurle
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
This study is focused on the disease Cryptosporidiosis. Cryptosporidiosis is a disease which affects the gut of humans and other animals. It is caused by consuming water, food, or by contact with animals (including humans) or their faeces carrying the parasite Cryptosporidium. Once ingested, the parasite makes its way to the gut where it causes damage and an inflammatory response. This results in several symptoms, mainly: watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea/ vomiting and low-grade fever. Normally, these symptoms are self-resolving, but in young, malnourished children and those with a damaged immune system (immunocompromised) this infection can be fatal. The management of patients is difficult as there are no effective drugs against Cryptosporidium, with none licensed for use in the UK or EU.
This is a collaborative research project between three research laboratories across the UK and the National Cryptosporidium Reference Unit, focused on investigating how and why human-infective (and therefore clinically important) Cryptosporidium species are able to easily invade the gut of the host, causing disease, in addition to exploring how Cryptosporidium impacts the bacteria living in the gut of patients. This project will use a range of techniques to discover how this parasite can invade human cells, discover potential drug targets and investigate the gut microbiome.
This will be done using excess stool samples provided to the Cryptosporidium Reference Unit (Public Health Wales, Swansea) for diagnosis, which will be sent to the three expert research laboratories across the UK. These are: the University of East Anglia (Norwich), The Francis-Crick Institute (London) and The Wellcome Institute of Anti-Infectives Research (Dundee, Scotland). At these research centres the parasites from patient stool samples will be isolated, and used in experiments investigating the mechanisms behind parasite invasion of host cells, and determining if these mechanisms can be used as targets for drug development.
REC name
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REC reference
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