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What follows is the text
of a conference report, written by Dr. Jeremy M. Sternberg
of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, UK
on the meeting.
The report was written for, and is
published in, the
July 2006 edition of The Newsletter of the British Society
for Parasitology (http://www.bsp.uk.net)
or
Download the Newsletter itself in PDF file format
Conference Report
Kinetoplastid
Diseases 2006: Senegal and Gambia
During 2005, many of the
trypanosome and leishmaniasis research community received email
invitations to a conference on Kinetoplastid diseases to be held
in West Africa in March 2006. The set up was unusual and the
organiser was totally unfamiliar to us, so in the end it was a
small band of intrepid parasitologists who gathered in Dakar on
the 10th March. What ensued was a remarkable and
unconventional week, part formal conference, part a relaxed
forum for discussion of science, and part an opportunity to
experience the atmosphere of both city and rural Senegal and
Gambia.
The first part of the
meeting, held in Dakar, consisted of 3 days of formal oral and
poster presentation on a wide range of topics in kinetoplastid
biology, although Trypanosoma brucei dominated the
proceedings. Five papers were presented on the immunology of
African trypanosomiasis. These included new data on the
relationship of pathogenesis and systemic inflammatory response
syndrome presented by Henry Tabel (Saskatoon) and the role of
the inflammatory response in setting the progression of
menigoencephalitis from Jerry Sternberg (Aberdeen). Also the
control of virulence was approached from two directions. First
clinical studies are beginning to investigate host immunogenetic
factors in determining the avirulent infections of
T.b.rhodesiense observed in Malawi (Sternberg). Secondly,
parasite virulence is now being dissected in the progeny of
genetic crosses between high and low virulence isolates in
rodent infection, and promising results indicating the
segregation of virulence phenotypes was presented by Liam
Morrison, (Glasgow).
This lead on to the
genetics of African trypanosomes, and the application of genetic
mapping to discover genes associated with human serum resistance
and drug resistance was described by Annette MacLeod, (Glasgow).
This approach becomes extremely powerful when combined with the
T.brucei genome database, and 2 presentations brought the
latest developments on each of the tri-tryp genomes were given
by Chris Peacock, (Sanger). The genetic approach was further
developed by Bruno Bucheton (Marseille) who has been using a
genetic epidemiological approach to identify QTLs associated
with susceptibility to Leishmania donovani
infection.
As noted above, one of
the traits which is of major concern in T.brucei, is the
emergence of drug resistance in both human and bovine infection.
Presentations covered both the molecular mechanisms of drug
resistance (Harry de Koning, Glasgow) and the consequences of
drug resistance in the design of animal surveillance and
treatment programmes (Omar Diall, Bamako).
In Trypanosoma cruzi,
Alicia Couto (Buenos Aires) presented a detailed dissection of
the glycosphingolipid biosynthesis pathway, and data on
potential novel inhibitors of the pathway. Reinaldo Bestetti (Ribeirao
Preto) gave a detailed account of predictive factors in Chagas
cardiomyopathy and treatments which manage the emergence of this
condition.
Discussions resulting
from the days talks continued well into each evening as the
participants explored the restaurants and bars of Dakar, and
enjoyed some fine music (even though Youssou N’Dour was out of
town).
After the first part of
the meeting, some delegates went home, and remainder of the
conference hit the road, quite literally. The delegates
travelled to the Senegal/Gambia border in a convoy of Peugeot
505 taxis which are such a familiar means of long distance
travel in Africa. Then we transferred to minibus to reach the
ferry crossing the Gambia River to Banjul, and once again in a
convoy of taxis to Kololi where the next day we had an
interesting visit to the International Trypanotolerance Centre,
and a chance to learn about the N’Dama cow. The N’Dama is one of
a number of West African shorthorn cows which show resistance to
African trypanosome infections, and the ITC is promoting their
use in areas of high tsetse challenge and participating in a
major programme in collaboration with ILRI to determine the
genetic basis of trypanotolerance. After more “scientific
discussion” at the beach, we were then taken by bus on a
gruelling ride along the Gambia’s worst highway to Tendaba Camp,
some 100km inland on the Gambia River where a final couple of
days was available for discussion and/or recreation.
Kinetoplastids2006 was
one of a series of scientific meetings in West Africa, promoted
by an organisation called Mangosteen, led by Dr Anthony England.
England is a research chemist with a CV that took him from the
UK, to MIT, Japan and finally the Netherlands. It was there that
he developed his business concept, which to quote Mangosteen, is
to take cutting edge science to the developing world. By holding
the meeting in West Africa, Mangosteen aim to provide a high
quality meeting for low costs while at the same time opening the
meeting at no cost to local academics and students. (On this
occasion, the local input was small, as the conference coincided
with a student strike at Dakar University!) It is a worthy
objective, and Kinetoplastids 2006 was an interesting first shot
at doing this with the tryp community. However, this meeting was
to some extent limited by the small group of delegates, and a
lack of structure to the science programme. This and future
meetings provoked considerable discussion amongst participants,
and the general view was that the meeting format and ethos was a
good idea. To this end it was decided that the next
kinetoplastids meeting would be held in 2008 or 2009, and that
several of this years delegates would form a scientific steering
committee to set themes for each session and get keynote
speakers on-board. We are very much looking forward to this
task. Meanwhile, we understand that Mangosteen are planning a
malaria meeting in the Gambia in spring 2007. No doubt you’ll
get the email invite soon!
Jeremy M. Sternberg
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