THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) U.S. researchers say they've
identified an enzyme that may help dysentery-causing amoeba evade
the immune system.
The finding may help lead to new ways to fight dysentery, a form
of diarrhea that affects about 500 million people worldwide each
year and is a serious health threat in many regions.
"This is the first enzyme to be identified that looks like it
could mediate immune system evasion," Sin Urban, an assistant
professor of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, said in a prepared statement.
Urban and colleagues found the EhROM1 enzyme in the
dysentery-causing amoeba
Entamoeba histolytica.
The study was published in the June 15 issue of the journal
Genes & Development.
The EhROM1 enzyme is part of an ancient group of enzymes known
as rhomboid enzymes. In most animals, these enzymes play a role in
cell-to-cell communication. But a few years ago, Urban found that
malaria parasites use rhomboid enzymes to invade host cells.
This led him to look at the DNA of other disease-causing
organisms to see if any of them also had genes that encode rhomboid
enzymes. That led to the discovery of EhROM1 in
Entamoeba histolytica. More research is needed to determine
exactly how it helps this amoeba evade detection by the immune
system.
The EhROM1 enzyme is similar to those found in malaria
parasites, which suggests that a drug that targets EhROM1 in order
to treat dysentery might also prove effective against malaria,
Urban said.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more
about
chronic diarrhea.
