Juan David Ospina-Villa

Laurence A. Marchat

María Esther Ramírez-Moreno

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

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Frontiers in Cellular and Infection MicrobiologyOPEN ACCESSEDITED AND REVIEWED BYJeroen P. J. Saeij,University of California, Davis, United States*CORRESPONDENCELaurence A. Marchatlmarchat@gmail.comSPECIALTY SECTIONThis article was submitted toParasite and Host,a section of the journalFrontiers in Cellular andInfection MicrobiologyRECEIVED 23 March 2023ACCEPTED 28 March 2023PUBLISHED 12 April 2023CITATIONMarchat LA, Ospina-Villa JD and Ramı́rez-Moreno ME (2023) Editorial: Systemsbiology strategies in parasitic diseases.Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 13:1192732.doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1192732COPYRIGHT© 2023 Marchat, Ospina-Villa and Ramı́rez-Moreno. This is an open-access articledistributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (CC BY). Theuse, distribution or reproduction in otherforums is permitted, provided the originalauthor(s) and the copyright owner(s) arecredited and that the original publication inthis journal is cited, in accordance withaccepted academic practice. No use,distribution or reproduction is permittedwhich does not comply with these terms.TYPE EditorialPUBLISHED 12 April 2023DOI 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1192732Editorial: Systems biologystrategies in parasitic diseasesLaurence A. Marchat1*, Juan David Ospina-Villa2and Marı́a Esther Ramı́rez-Moreno11Escuela Nacional de Medicina y Homeopatı́a, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico, Mexico,2 Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical, Universidad CES, Antioquia, ColombiaKEYWORDSbioinformatics, diagnosis, eukaryotic parasites, host-pathogen interactions, omics data,parasite biology, system biology, treatmentEditorial on the Research TopicSystems biology strategies in parasitic diseasesAt the beginning of the XXI century, as the COVID-19 pandemic recently rememberedus, infectious diseases still threaten human health in both developing and developedcountries. Notably, the World Health Organization reported that they are directlyresponsible for 15% of all deaths worldwide, making them a challenging area ofinvestigation. Beside bacteria and virus, eukaryotic parasites produced a large range ofsymptoms that lead to disfiguring, debilitating and lethal diseases besides the effectivenessof the currently available drugs. Additionally, their side effects, the existence of drugresistance and the absence of vaccines strongly justify the need for new methods forcontrolling these parasites. In this context, genome sequence analyses, multi-omicsstrategies and the computational integration of multi-omics data mainly based ontranscriptomics, and proteomics, have provided key information about the biologicalmolecular functions and networks supporting these living systems, that can be applied toidentify key proteins and events with potential for the development of more effectiveprevention, prophylaxis, diagnosis, and treatment methods.Among protozoan parasites, Entamoeba histolytica, the causative agent of humanamoebiasis, causes endemic infections in developing countries and population living inpoor sanitary conditions. Developed countries are also concerned since it affects travelersreturning from endemic areas, and immunocompromised individuals. The maincharacteristics of amoebiasis include colitis, severe diarrhea, dysentery, and liverabscesses, that are responsible for 40,000–100,000 deaths annually. E. histolytica isconsidered as the fourth leading cause of death due to a parasite infection, and thereforerequires additional molecular studies for the development of enhanced diagnostic capacityand disease surveillance.One of the virulence hallmarks of E. histolytica is phagocytosis, which involves theparticipation of the Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport (ESCRT)machinery for endocytosis, endosome and multivesicular bodies (MVBs) formation, aswell as cargo delivery into lysosomes. Notably, ESCRT-I and ESCRT-III components, otherproteins such as EhADH adhesin, EhRabs, and actin, and the lysobisphosphatidic acid(LBPA) contribute to membrane remodeling. Using a proteomic approach, Banuelos et al.showed that LBPA is associated to a set of proteins related to membrane trafficking, cellularfrontiersin.org01Marchat et al. 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1192732transport, cytoskeleton dynamics, and transcriptional andtranslational functions, that are secreted.The proteomic approach can also give new insights about themolecular mechanisms of new anti-parasite drugs. Thus, Avila-Bonillaet al. chose this strategy to elucidate the effect of two quinoxalinederivatives (QdNO) named T-001 and T-017 on E. histolyticatrophozoites. Changes in the abundance of proteins mainly related toredox homeostasis, cytoskeleton and intracellular traffic, suggested thatQdNO affect essential functions related to the actin cytoskeleton, whichultimately has a negative impact on E. histolytica virulence and survival.Amebic liver abscess (ALA) is the most common and severeextraintestinal manifestation of amebiasis. In agreement with therelevance of anti-amoebic oxidative intermediates for liver tissuedamage, Cruz-Baquero et al. showed the effectiveness of theantioxidant activity of ascorbic acid (ASC) to reduce liver damageand parasites in an experimental model of ALA in hamsters. Theyalso revealed the effect of ASC on the myeloperoxidase (MPO)enzyme amount and activity to restore the biological liver system.Finally, the identification of circRNA-producing genes and theirassociation with encystment, sulfur metabolism and virulenceallowed González-Blanco et al. to propose that circRNAs mighthave acquired new roles in the regulation of various cellularfunctions during the evolution of Entamoeba species.Helminths are another group of parasites of importance forhuman health. Transmission occurs when parasite eggs present inhuman feces contaminate the soil, food, or water in areas withdeficient sanitation systems. The soil-transmitted helminths (STH)cause the most common infections worldwide with an estimated 1.5billion infected people. In addition to health and hygiene education,periodic treatments with routine anti-helminth therapy, mainlyalbendazole and mebendazole, are necessary to reduce theintensity of infection, and therefore morbidity.The cestode parasite Taenia crassiceps is commonly used as ananimal model for studying the human cysticercosis caused by thezoonotic tapeworm Taenia solium in Latin America, South andSouth-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. From the characterizationof the genome sequences and the analysis of gene expression, Bobeset al. achieved to propose a new hypothesis to explain the absence ofscolex in the ORF strain of T. crassiceps. They also highlighted thepotential of comparative genomics for the design of new methodsfor parasite control.Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology 02The STH Ascaris and Trichuris represent relevant parasitenematodes in low- and middle-income regions, affecting bothhuman and animal well-being. They can survive and persist inthe human host for long period of time, which indicate the existenceof complex relationships between both biological systems. AsCastañeda et al. show in their interesting review, studies based onmetagenomics, metataxonomics and metabolomics strategiescontributed to the understanding of the effect of parasiteinfections on the composition and structure of the hostmicrobiota, which in turn has an impact on pathogen biology,infection dynamics and pathophysiology.Although the studies contained in this Research Topic onlyfocused on a small number of the eukaryotic parasites that affecthuman health, their results provide interesting data and confirm thepotential of omics and bioinformatics strategies for a betterunderstanding and control of these pathogens.Author contributionsAll authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectualcontribution to the work and approved it for publication.Conflict of interestThe authors declare that the research was conducted in theabsence of any commercial or financial relationships that could beconstrued as a potential conflict of interest.Publisher’s noteAll claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authorsand do not necessarily represent those of their affiliatedorganizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and thereviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, orclaim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed orendorsed by the publisher.frontiersin.org

Editorial: Systems biology strategies in parasitic diseases

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Editorial: Systems biology strategies in parasitic diseases

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