Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0017536 (giardiasis)
 1,714 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Giardia lamblia undergoes surface antigenic variation. The variant-specific surface proteins (VSPs) are a distinct family of cysteine-rich proteins. Characteristically, cysteine residues occur mostly as CXXC tetrapeptides. Four of the reported five VSPs contain a putative metal-binding domain that resembles other metal-binding motifs; the fifth is closely related but lacks an essential histidine. Three different native VSPs bound Zn2+. Co2+, Cu2+, and Cd2+ inhibited Zn2+ binding. Analysis of recombinant VSP fusion proteins showed that the putative binding motif bound Zn2+. Surprisingly, peptide fragments from other regions of the VSP contain numerous CXXCXnCXXC motifs that also bound Zn2+. Analysis of deduced amino acid sequences showed well-conserved CXXC spacing in three out of five VSPs, suggesting conservation of structure despite amino acid sequence divergence. The function of VSPs is unknown, but by binding Zn2+ or other metals in the intestine, VSPs may contribute to Zn2+ malnutrition or inhibition of metal-dependent intestinal enzymes, which would lead to malabsorption, a well-known consequence of giardiasis.
 ...
PMID:Variant-specific surface proteins of Giardia lamblia are zinc-binding proteins. 851 91

Cysts of Giardia lamblia can be a contaminant of water and food that can infect humans and cause the zoonotic disease giardiasis. Irradiation by a cobalt-60 source was investigated for its ability to inactivate cysts such that they would not be infective to gerbils. Cysts that received doses of radiation ranging from 0.25 to 2.0 kGy, with a recovery period of 6 hr or less, did not infect gerbils. Cysts that were irradiated at 0.25 kGy and allowed to recover at 23 C in water for 24 hr or longer were infective. Temperature had an effect on the ability of cysts to regain infectivity in that cysts allowed to recover at 4 C after irradiation were not infective. Therefore, recovery time and temperature are important parameters for determination of the doses that are necessary for inactivation of this pathogen. The ability of staining with propidium iodide to predict infectivity of cysts was tested. Cysts that were damaged by higher doses of radiation and were not infective to gerbils stained similarly to viable cysts that were infective. Thus, propidium iodide is not a reliable indicator of viability and infectivity of cysts that have been treated with gamma radiation.
 ...
PMID:Inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts by cobalt-60 irradiation. 1989 11