Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Natural Selection And Genetic Variation In A Promising Chagas Disease Drug Target: Trypanosoma Cruzi Trans-Sialidase, Joseph P. Gallant

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Rational drug design is a powerful method in which new and innovative therapeutics can be designed based on knowledge of the biological target aiming to provide more efficacious and responsible therapeutics. Understanding aspects of the targeted biological agent is important to optimize drug design and preemptively design to slow or avoid drug resistance. Chagas disease, an endemic disease for South and Central America and Mexico is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite known to consist of six separate genetic clusters or DTUs (discrete typing units). Chagas disease therapeutics are problematic and a call for new therapeutics is widespread. Many …