{"@type": "dcat:Dataset", "accessLevel": "public", "bureauCode": ["009:25"], "contactPoint": {"@type": "vcard:Contact", "fn": "NIH", "hasEmail": "mailto:info@nih.gov"}, "description": "An intense suppression of T cell proliferation to mitogens and to\nantigens is observed in a large number of parasitic infections.\nThe impairment of T cell proliferation also occurred during the\nacute phase of Chagas' disease, caused by the intracellular\nprotozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. A wealth of\nevidence has accumulated that illustrates the ability of\nT. cruzi released molecules to influence directly a\nvariety of diverse immunological functions. In this paper, we\nreview the data concerning the immunoregulatory effects of\nT. cruzi Tc24 (a B cell activator antigen) and Tc52 (an\nimmunosuppressive protein) released molecules on the host immune\nsystem. The gene targeting approach developed to further explore\nthe biological function(s) of Tc52 molecule, revealed interesting\nunexpected functional properties. Indeed, in addition to its\nimmunusuppressive activity a direct or indirect involvement of\nTc52 gene product alone or in combination with other\ncellular components in T. cruzi differentiation control\nmechanisms have been evidenced. Moreover, targeted Tc52\nreplacement allowed the obtention of parasite mutants exhibiting\nlow virulence in vitro and in vivo. Thus, the\ngeneration of a complete deficiency state of virulence factors by\ngene targeting should provide a means to assess the importance of\nthese factors in the pathophysiological processes and disease\nprogression. It is hoped that such approaches might allow\nrational design of tools to control T. cruzi\ninfections.", "distribution": [{"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "description": "Visit the original government dataset for complete information, documentation, and data access.", "downloadURL": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC79673/", "mediaType": "text/html", "title": "Official Government Data Source"}], "identifier": "https://healthdata.gov/api/views/e3ur-wbk3", "issued": "2025-07-14", "keyword": ["chagas-disease", "immunosuppression", "nih", "t-cell-proliferation", "trypanosoma-cruzi"], "landingPage": "https://healthdata.gov/d/e3ur-wbk3", "modified": "2025-09-06", "programCode": ["009:033"], "publisher": {"@type": "org:Organization", "name": "National Institutes of Health"}, "theme": ["NIH"], "title": "Research Article: Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology"}