Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
Netsanet Worku is a researcher and faculty staff at the Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Gondar in Ethiopia. Netsanet Worku has done research works in the field of Parasitic Diseases, Tropical Diseases, Zoonotic Diseases, Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Transmission, Molecular Diagnostics, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Drug Resistance, Biochemistry.
Research Article
Preliminary Results Indicate the Anti-Proliferative Effect of HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors on Trypanosoma brucei Cells can be Due to the Non-Specific Targeting of Metallo-and Cysteine-Proteases
Author(s): Netsanet Worku* and Gerd Birkenmeier
Background: Initial studies have confirmed the efficacy of protease inhibitors in the treatment of Trypanosoma
cruzi, Plasmodium falciparum, and Leishmania major. However, studies on efficacy and specific protease inhibition
of HIV-1 protease inhibitors on Trypanosoma brucei cells remained untouched. The objective of the current study
was to determine the efficacy of two HIV-1 protease inhibitors, ritonavir, and saquinavir, in Trypanosoma brucei proliferation and to determine if these HIV-1 protease inhibitors target the activity of the Trypanosoma brucei major
proteases.
Methods: Time dependency test at variable increasing concentrations, motile cell counts, alamarBlue® cell
proliferation/viability assay and zymography were among the methods applied.
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