Mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of Leishmania donovani soluble proteins in Indian clinical isolate

Leishmania donovani, a causative organism of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), is responsible for high mortality throughout the world. Due to the unsatisfactory treatment measures and increasing drug resistance, there has been an urgent need to develop novel drug/vaccine targets against VL. The aim of this study was to identify novel targets in soluble L. donovani (SLD) protein. SLD protein was isolated and resolved by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and analyzed through MALDI-TOF/TOF-based mass spectrometry. Proteomic results identified several proteins as drug targets, Th1 stimulatory, novel, and hypothetical proteins which could have crucial biological functions in Leishmania pathogenesis.