4, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. In the present project, supported by the 3R Research Foundation,transgenic trypanosomes are used, firstly to produce bioactive recombinant proteins, and secondly as a test system for the detection of novel drugs with antiparasitic activities. This approach provides an alternative to transgenic animals for the production of biologically active eukaryotic proteins and reduces the number of animals necessary as a source of parasites in drug and vaccine development. Production of bioactive proteins Biomedical research depends increasingly on the production of substantial quantities of pure, functionally active proteins.
Proteins produced in mammalian cells are more likely to be bioactive, but the yields are much lower.
Table I Advantages of the expression system using procyclic trypanosomes easy maintenance of cells in a semi-defined medium. Scanning electron micrograph of T. brucei procyclic forms. Infection starts when sporozoite forms of the parasite enter lymphocytes. Recombinant p67 that has been produced in either bacteria or baculoviruses cannot be recognised by antibodies. In the 3R research project we were able to create stable transformed trypanosomes containing different forms of p67.