Investigating Flagellar Motility of Leishmania spp.; its Impact on Parasite Lifecycle Progression and Infectivity (360G-Wellcome-105502_Z_14_A)

Leishmaniasis is a chronic, debilitating disease that is the second biggest killer amongst parasitic diseases. It is caused by the obligate, intracellular protozoan Leishmania spp. [1] which undergoes a complex life cycle transitioning between promastigote and amastigote stages in sandfly and human hosts, respectively[1]. The different lifecycle forms each have a different aim. Whether that aim is migration within the sandfly’s midgut or infection of leukocytes, each involves motility of the promastigote form to enable the lifecycle to progress. We will use a myriad of techniques to examine the role of parasite motility in Leishmania : host interactions – investigating movement parameters, fluid dynamics and evidence of chemotaxis to compare different promastigote lifecycle forms. We hypothesise that studying the biophysical swimming parameters and biomolecular factors may reveal good therapeutic targets to block Leishmania spp. transmission to human hosts and/or invasion of mammalian immune cells. With the aim of correlating motility at individual, population and genetic levels this could elucidate the Leishmania parasite’s mechanisms for survival and transmission to human hosts.