Microsporidia is represented by 220 genera and about 1,700 species which leads to its extreme diversity. This broad diversity makes it difficult to formulate targeted therapeutic and vaccination strategies. Through cutting-edge vaccine and therapeutic development services, we are at the forefront of combating these parasitic diseases.
Introduction to Microsporidiosis
Microsporidiosis is an opportunistic infectious ailment caused by microsporidia termed microspordia. In over 100 years, these organisms have been discovered to have a great diversity of hosts which include humans who are infected with microsporidia. Microsporidial infection have been reported to be most prevalent due to Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon cuniculi species which infect more people suffering from immune dysfunctions especially HIV/AIDS. Along with frequent chronic diarrhea and wasting syndrome, multi-system infections may also include eyes as keratoconjunctivitis and Central Nervous System as encephalitis which are manifestations of microsporidiosis.
Fig.1 Mechanism of action of therapy and therapeutic targets for microsporidiosis. (Wei J., et al., 2022)
Vaccine Development for Microsporidiosis
- Epitope-Based Vaccines: The immunoinformatics methods which include modeling and using chosen parts of proteins that will elicit and immune response have been utilized to develop this kind of vaccine. In the case of microsporidiosis, the focus is on the spore wall proteins (SWPs) of such microorganisms as the Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei which play an important role in the process of recognizing and invading the host cells.
- DNA Vaccines: Construction is being undertaken in the direction of DNA vaccines which should protect against microsporidian infection and which would be transcribed to yield important microsporidian proteins capable of eliciting robust cellular immune responses post-immunization.
Therapeutics Development for Microsporidiosis
Fumagillin
Fumagillin is a compound obtained from the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, which has been shown to be inhibiting to some microsporidian species. This is achieved by blocking methionine aminopeptidase, an enzyme which is vital for the normal physiology of microsporidia. Fumagillin has been demonstrated to have clinical effects in microsporidiosis, and it seems to be very active against Encephalitozoon species infection.
Albendazole
Albendazole is self-evidently the first drug that come to mind in microsporidiosis; however, its efficacy is variable in most cases with Enterocytozoon bieneusi. Some studies have shown that albendazole is sometimes able to decrease the burden of some types of microsporidian infections, but such instances are not common – more investigations are clearly needed to define the scope and limits of these drugs.
Our Services
Vaccine Development: Within the context of vaccine development, we utilize the advancements in molecular biology and imunniongenous vaccine design towards the effective and safe elicitation of responses against microsporidian infections. Vaccine efficacy is achieved through targeted epitope identification, vector design, and formulation development optimization.
Therapeutics Development: Concerning therapeutic development, a multi-target approach is taken in iorder to deal with microsporidian pathogens because of the multi-faceted complexities of these organisms. We specialize in novel compounds which are highly active against microsporidia and have undergone very strict pharmacological preclinical tests.
Preclinical Research
- Pharmacodynamics Study Services
- Pharmacokinetics Study Services
- Drug Safety Evaluation Services
Disease Models
- Microsporidia Infection Models: Anncaliia, Encephalitozoon, E. bieneusi, Microsporidium, Nosema, Pleistophora sp., Trachipleistophora, Vittaforma, and Tubulinosema
In addition, we provide the following services to provide a solid foundation for vaccine and drug development.
- Biomarker Identification: Researching immune correlates of protection and potential biomarkers for monitoring therapeutic responses is a priority. These biomarkers are critical for assessing the effectiveness of new interventions and guiding future research directions.
- In Vitro Studies: We conduct laboratory studies to assess the efficacy of vaccine candidates and therapeutic agents against Metagonimus species. Our advanced laboratory facilities enable comprehensive evaluations that inform subsequent stages of development.
If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us.
References
- Wei, Junhong, et al. "Current therapy and therapeutic targets for microsporidiosis." Frontiers in Microbiology 13 (2022): 835390.
- Han, Bing, Guoqing Pan, and Louis M. Weiss. "Microsporidiosis in humans." Clinical Microbiology Reviews 34.4 (2021): e00010-20.
- Islam, Sk Injamamul, Moslema Jahan Mou, and Saloa Sanjida. "In silico-based vaccine design against hepatopancreatic microsporidiosis in shrimp." Trends in Sciences 19.21 (2022): 2679-2679.
All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use
only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.
