Authors

Discussion

Invasion of host erythrocytes by apicomplexan parasites is a promising field for vaccine development and one that is well studied for Plasmodium species. Babesia divergens is a tick-borne parasite causing disease of human and veterinary importance, but our knowledge surrounding molecular mechanisms of how B. divergens invades host erythrocytes is limited. Transcriptome analysis showed that Babesia expresses genes encoding thrombospondin type one repeat (TSR) domain containing proteins in multiple life cycle stages. Orthologues of these proteins in Plasmodium are vital for parasite motility and host cell invasion. Using orthologous knowledge, we hypothesise that TSR domain containing proteins are equally important for parasite mobility and ability of host cell invasion of B. divergens both in vertebrate life cycle stages and during tick development of the parasite.

To investigate this, TSR domain containing proteins from B. divergens were expressed recombinantly to generate antibodies. Polyclonal antibodies and nanobodies specific to our target proteins will next be tested in-vitro for efficacy in inhibiting erythrocyte invasion. This will provide critical information whether these target proteins could be used as vaccine candidates to prevent babesiosis both in cattle and humans.