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Updated: Oct 25, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing Therapeutics to Treat Vibriosis in Humans and Aquatic Organisms
Published on: May 31, 2024
Trypanosome Signaling-Quorum Sensing
1Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, Ashworth Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, United Kingdom;
Abstract:
African trypanosomes are responsible for important diseases of humans and animals in sub-Saharan Africa. The best-studied species is Trypanosoma brucei, which is characterized by development in the mammalian host between morphologically slender and stumpy forms. The latter are adapted for transmission by the parasite's vector, the tsetse fly. The development of stumpy forms is driven by density-dependent quorum sensing (QS), the molecular basis for which is now coming to light. In this review, I discuss the historical context and biological features of trypanosome QS and how it contributes to the parasite's infection dynamics within its mammalian host. Also, I discuss how QS can be lost in different trypanosome species, such as T. brucei evansi and T. brucei equiperdum, or modulated when parasites find themselves competing with others of different genotypes or of different trypanosome species in the same host. Finally, I consider the potential to exploit trypanosome QS therapeutically.
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