Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-03-11DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.007
Amin Azimi, Reza Salavati
{"title":"Beyond overlap in kinetoplastid interactomes.","authors":"Amin Azimi, Reza Salavati","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Independent protein-protein interaction networks in kinetoplastid parasites show little overlap, often interpreted as biological divergence. We argue that this pattern largely reflects fragmented sampling. Integrating interactomes from Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania donovani improves functional coverage and interpretability while preserving lineage-specific assemblies, providing a framework for hypothesis generation across species.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"215-218"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147445224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-03-12DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.015
Bret M Boyd, Sarah E Bush, Colin Dale
{"title":"Untangling nature's experiment with lice and endosymbiotic bacteria.","authors":"Bret M Boyd, Sarah E Bush, Colin Dale","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Insects have formed close relationships with endosymbiotic microorganisms, enabling adaptation and promoting diversification. In this review, we examined studies of endosymbiotic bacteria in parasitic lice (Psocodea: Phthiraptera). Lice and their endosymbionts lead fairly secluded lives, with each louse-host and louse-endosymbiont pair evolving in relative isolation. Consequently, each louse lineage and its associated endosymbiont represents natural replicates, useful for understanding how endosymbiosis arises and evolves under similar ecological conditions. While louse endosymbionts are vertically transmitted, they show surprisingly low levels of cospeciation with their louse hosts. Instead, phylogenomic evidence indicates repeated, independent acquisitions of endosymbionts from free-living progenitors. Following each acquisition, endosymbiont lineages experienced elevated evolutionary rates and genomic reduction, losing functionally redundant pathways while retaining functions necessary to maintain the symbiosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"288-296"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147460440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-03-16DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.005
Jiani Chen, Zeying Wang, Zixuan Xu, Jianhua Huang
{"title":"Host manipulation by Drosophila parasitoid wasps: molecular tools and strategic insights.","authors":"Jiani Chen, Zeying Wang, Zixuan Xu, Jianhua Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Parasitoid wasps are a remarkably diverse group of insects that employ intricate parasitic strategies. Their reproductive success largely depends on their ability to precisely manipulate their hosts. The Drosophila-parasitoid wasp system is a powerful model for deciphering the mechanisms underlying such host manipulation. Here, we summarize the known species of Drosophila parasitoid wasps and their molecular tools, focusing on genome resources and key parasitic effectors such as venom. We also discuss the molecular mechanisms revealed through these tools that underpin the manipulation of host immunity, nutrition, development, and behavior. Finally, we emphasize that expanding research to a broader range of parasitoid wasp lineages is essential for deepening our mechanistic understanding and advancing their potential in biocontrol applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"297-308"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147475352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-03-19DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.004
Andrea A Berry
{"title":"Gut check: converging evidence links microbiome to malaria risk.","authors":"Andrea A Berry","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Beyond genetics and immunity, the gut microbiome may be an underappreciated determinant of malaria parasite burden. Gustin et al. demonstrated that pre-infection microbiome composition predicts the level of Plasmodium parasitemia in both rhesus macaques and human volunteers, with convergent evidence pointing to Bifidobacterium as a potentially protective genus.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"210-211"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147491730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-03-16DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.004
Mira Milić, Prisca Obi, Christopher D Vanderwal, Choukri Ben Mamoun, Karine G Le Roch
{"title":"Polypharmacology in malaria treatment: single drugs, multiple mechanisms, greater impact.","authors":"Mira Milić, Prisca Obi, Christopher D Vanderwal, Choukri Ben Mamoun, Karine G Le Roch","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.02.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Malaria remains a global health crisis, exacerbated by the rise of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium species to clinically used drugs, as well as newly developed therapeutic agents. Historically, natural-product-derived drugs such as quinine and artemisinin have been the cornerstones of malaria treatment, distinguished by their ability to attack the parasite on multiple fronts simultaneously. This review explores the paradigm of single drugs with multiple targets, a polypharmacology strategy designed to achieve combination-therapylike efficacy within a single compound. We discuss how natural products leverage multitarget mechanisms of action, reducing the likelihood of resistance, and the opportunities and challenges in developing next-generation antimalarials. Understanding and harnessing polypharmacology in antimalarial drug design could prolong therapeutic durability and reinvigorate our arsenal against malaria.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"222-236"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147475336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2025-11-14DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2025.10.012
Munsif A Khan, Xue-Bing Ni, Tommy T Y Lam
{"title":"Hyalomma anatolicum (the small Anatolian Hyalomma).","authors":"Munsif A Khan, Xue-Bing Ni, Tommy T Y Lam","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2025.10.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2025.10.012","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"311-312"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145530870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-03-07DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.012
Henry J McSorley, Danielle J Smyth, Gregor Fisher
{"title":"Tonic for your GIN: gastrointestinal nematode immunomodulator vaccines.","authors":"Henry J McSorley, Danielle J Smyth, Gregor Fisher","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>No vaccines are currently available for any gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections of humans, despite a large global burden of disease. In livestock, limited helminth vaccines are available, while current anthelmintic treatments are waning in their effectiveness as resistance is developing. The reasons for the lack of vaccines are manifold but include the complexity of the parasite genomes, the lack of defined correlates of protection, and the immunomodulatory activities of GIN infections. In recent years, our knowledge of parasite immunomodulation has dramatically advanced. Here, we propose that vaccination approaches can be used to block either parasite immunomodulation or digestive processes, allowing effective ejection or starvation of these parasites. We compare this approach to vaccines against other pathogens and summarise data from rodent, livestock, and human infections.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"275-287"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147378714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-03-14DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.013
Pedro P D Lucinda, Matthew C Sinton, Juan F Quintana, Walderez O Dutra
{"title":"Dual faces of γδ T cells in trypanosomatid infections.","authors":"Pedro P D Lucinda, Matthew C Sinton, Juan F Quintana, Walderez O Dutra","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this review, we tell the story of how two related parasites that belong to the same genus, Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi, cause very distinct lethal diseases and how γδ T cells help shape these outcomes. It synthesizes current knowledge on γδ T-cell responses to T. brucei and T. cruzi, highlighting shared and parasite-specific features. Here we emphasize how γδ T-cell cytotoxic versus regulatory programs and tissue residency in blood, lymphoid organs, liver, gut, heart, and skin influence early parasite control, chronic persistence, and immunopathology. Finally, we discuss the gaps that need to be filled and how these insights may inform new interventions, including modulation of γδ function, γδ-targeted vaccine strategies, and γδ-based biomarkers for host-directed therapies in Chagas disease and human African trypanosomiasis.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"237-248"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147463814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Theileria orientalis.","authors":"Abdul Ghafar, Ard M Nijhof, Abdul Jabbar","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2026.01.010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147487258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}