Jane Wanyiri, B.Sc., Zoology & Botany,
M.Sc., Entomology & Parasitology, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
Ph.D., Microbiology & Parasitology,
University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: jwanyiri@tufts-nemc.org

The C. parvum gene, Cpgp40/15 encodes a major surface glycoprotein that is synthesized as a precursor protein and proteolytically processed into two glycopeptides, gp40 and gp15 that are involved in mediating attachment and invasion. I am studying the biosynthesis and post- translational processing of the precursor protein and attempting to identify and characterize the protease/s involved in this process. I have shown that gp40/15 is processed by human furin as well as a by a C. parvum serine protease activity that is biochemically very similar to furin. Further, a specific furin inhibitor abrogates C. parvum infection of host cells. I have cloned a subtilisin-like protease identified from the C. parvum genome and am currently attempting to express and characterize the recombinant protein. I will then determine whether this or other proteases responsible for cleavage of gp40/15.