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Boyd Graduate Studies Research Center • Athens, GA 30602
Phone 706.542.1404
[email protected] http://research.uga.edu/gateway
Technology Available for Licensing
UGARF Case #1268
New Targets for Chagas Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
Application
Chagas disease, caused by the intracellular protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a lifelong health problem in Central
and South America, where an estimated 18 million people are infected with this parasite and 100 million are at risk of
infection. T. cruzi is known to also be pathogenic in over 100 mammal species other than humans, including dogs, cats
and rodents, and the infection can be transmitted from these animals to humans.
Historical attempts to develop vaccines for parasitic diseases such as Chagas disease have been largely futile, and there
is a critical lack of methods for diagnosis and treatment for T. cruzi in particular. Improved drugs and vaccines for the
treatment and prevention of T. cruzi infection are needed, as well as new diagnostic methods. This invention aims to
address these issues by providing new targets for vaccine and drug development. These targets could also be used to
develop diagnostic kits and screening assays.
Problems Addressed (benefits/advantages)
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Previously unknown targets that are essential for energy generation in specific life cycle stages
Discovery of additional stage-related T. cruzi proteins opens up new avenues for diagnosis, treatment and
prevention
Diagnosis of T. cruzi infection through any number of stage-specific T. cruzi proteins to provide more accurate
diagnosis of Chagas disease
Technology Summary
Proteomic analysis of T. cruzi has identified many new life-stage specific molecular targets suitable for use in prevention,
diagnosis, and treatment of Chagas disease.
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Vaccine development
Diagnostic kits
Targets for drug development
Development of screening assays to identify inhibitors of stage-related enzymes present in mammalian host or
insect vectors, which could then be used as therapeutic agents to treat T. cruzi infection
Inventors
Rick Tarleton, Distinguished Research Professor, Cellular Biology
http://cellbio.uga.edu/directory/faculty/rick-l-tarleton
Research in the Tarleton laboratory focuses on the immunology and pathogenesis of T. cruzi infection and Chagas
disease. Three broad questions are being addressed: 1) How is immune control initiated and maintained during the
infection; 2) How does T. cruzi manage to avoid immune clearance and maintain an infection for decades in hosts; and 3)
What is the relationship between immunity, parasite persistence, and disease development? The ultimate goals of these
investigations are to provide insights into the immunologic basis of parasite control and pathogenesis in T. cruzi infection
and to use this information to design methods for prevention of infection or intervention in chronic disease.
Ron Orlando, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
James Atwood, Post-doctoral fellow
Brent Weatherly, Post-doctoral fellow
Technology Development and IP Status
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US patent #7,780,969
Contact
Rachael Widener
Senior Licensing Manager
706-542-5095
[email protected]