How the sleeping‑sickness parasite rewrites its genetic messages in its two life stages
Official title: Regulation of RNA editing in two life cycle stages of Trypanosoma brucei
Funded at Texas A&m Agrilife Research · NIH-11261187 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are learning how the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness changes its RNA between insect and human stages to reveal weaknesses that could lead to better treatments for patients.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Texas A&m Agrilife Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (College Station, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | January 17, 2025 |
| Project end | December 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $464,038 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI184920-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11261187 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Because this is laboratory research, no patients are being enrolled, but the work is directly relevant to people with African sleeping sickness who might benefit from future therapies.
✕Less likely to help
People without African trypanosomiasis or those with unrelated conditions are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
The team will study the parasite Trypanosoma brucei to see how its mitochondrial RNA is massively edited as it shifts between the tsetse fly and mammal stages. They will focus on the editosome complex and a protein assembly called REH2C, using laboratory molecular biology and comparative analyses of parasite life stages grown in the lab. By comparing which RNAs are fully edited in one stage but not the other, researchers aim to pinpoint proteins and mechanisms that control editing. Those molecular findings could identify parasite-specific targets for future drugs or diagnostics.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal parasite-specific vulnerabilities that guide development of new treatments or diagnostic tests for African sleeping sickness.
How similar studies have gone: Previous laboratory studies have characterized the RNA editing machinery and implicated REH2C in editing fidelity, but turning those insights into therapies remains largely untested.
Where this research is happening
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Texas A&m Agrilife Research
College Station, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Cruz-Reyes, Jorge — Texas A&m Agrilife Research
- Study coordinator: Cruz-Reyes, Jorge
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.