• Study of the parasite and host cell molecules important for the infection and differentiation process of Trypanosoma cruzi.

• Motility of T. cruzi and its relationship with its infective capacity.

• Isolation, characterization, and omics of T. cruzi strains obtained in Mexico.

• Predictive modeling by georeferencing of the vector, transmission, and risk of Chagas disease.

• Identification and evaluation of autochthonous T. cruzi antigens, useful for the development of a prototype for the diagnosis of Chagas disease.

Papers: 40
In extenso papers: 9
Book chapters: 7
Meeting Participation: 140
Graduate students: 18 Bachelor, 16 Master y 10 PhD.
Students in process: 2 Bachelor, 1 Master y 3 PhD
Teaching courses: 58
Coordinated courses: 19

In my laboratory, we are interested in studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of infectious diseases, particularly in those biological processes that are important to allow Trypanosoma cruzi to efficiently infect humans.

This parasite is the etiological agent of Chagas disease (ChD), a condition that, even when it was discovered more than a century ago, continues to be an incurable, highly disabling disease that generates high treatment costs and very high expenses for the Health sector. It ranks first among tropical diseases and fourth among transmissible diseases, representing a loss of 0.667 million years of disability-adjusted life, which corresponds to the major impact disease in Latin America, and resulting in the more important parasitic infection in endemic countries. In Mexico, a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies, estimates an average national seroprevalence of 3.38%, suggesting that there are 4.06 million cases of infection with the parasite, which places it as the country with the highest number of T. cruzi infections in Latin America. This high seroprevalence undoubtedly shows that ChD is an important public health problem in Mexico.

T. cruzi is an obligate intracellular parasite that infects a wide range of cells through a complex infection process that involves the participation of various molecules from both the host cell and the parasite; however, very few molecules have been characterized to date. The infection and differentiation processes are essential for the parasite to complete its life cycle and for its survival. Therefore, one of the lines of research that we are working on is focused on the identification and characterization of the molecules that participate in these processes, using reverse genetic approaches, next generation sequencing analysis and differential omics. In this way, we aim to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the establishment of the disease and to identify potential targets for the future development of vaccines and drugs, focused on the control of ChD. In this same sense, another line of research in which we work using similar strategies is the characterization of parasite motility and its participation in the infection process of T. cruzi.

The parasite strains comprise six discrete typing units (DTUs) named TcI to TcVI, and a seventh one called TcBat, that circulate among vectors, man, and reservoirs, both domestic and sylvatic cycles, presenting a wide intra-specific variability. This genetic diversity among strains has been related to morphological differences in their blood forms, virulence, ability to induce lesions, susceptibility to chemotherapeutic agents, antigenic constitution, infectivity, geographic distribution, and clinical manifestations of the disease. Therefore, our group has also developed a line of research aimed at the isolation and characterization of autochthonous strains of the parasite used for different purposes.  One of these is the identification and analysis of antigenic proteins and peptides useful for the development of a prototype for the diagnosis of ChD, which would allow the efficient identification of the infection with the parasite strains that circulate in Mexico.

Finally, we carry out epidemiological, entomological, parasitological, and molecular studies, using geographic information systems and spatial modeling for data analysis and establishing correlations that allow the development of spatio-temporal predictive analyses of the behavior of the disease, its transmission and risks. These studies provide useful information that can be used to establish ChD monitoring and control programs.