![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/jayden-smith.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Department of Biological Sciences faculty Peter Keyel and Kai Zhang have received
\n a roughly $600,000 grant to investigate the Leishmania parasite.<\/p>\n
\t\tCREATORS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Texas Tech University<\/a> faculty Peter Keyel<\/a> and Kai Zhang<\/a> are teaming up to build foundational knowledge concerning leishmaniasis, a common, They\u2019re doing so with support from the National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Institute Leishmaniasis is a term that covers numerous tropical diseases transferred to humans, The cutaneous form is the most common; mucocutaneous leishmaniasis can lead to disability Keyel and Zhang both teach in the College of Arts and Sciences<\/a>\u2019 Department of Biological Sciences<\/a> as an associate professor and professor, respectively. The project combines Keyel\u2019s Keyel\u2019s typical research centers on how cells reseal after they get damaged.<\/p>\n There are several stressors that damage cells regularly, which require a membrane-repair In the infancy of the duo\u2019s collaboration, they looked at using PFTs to put holes \u201cWe built on that to try to figure out, \u2018Why are these guys protected? What are the The main restoration mechanisms in humans include linking enzymes and proteins to During this project, Keyel and Zhang will look for commonalities between mammalian After the study establishes a base understanding, then comes the translational phase \u201cWe certainly have an eye out for translation and clinical development,\u201d Keyel said. He anticipates having a graduate student help kick off the project in the fall by Keyel emphasizes giving undergraduates ownership of their ideas and the ability to \u201cThe goal is to get them involved and help them learn the assays, get the techniques,
\n but neglected protozoan parasitic disease.<\/p>\n
\n of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in the form of roughly $600,000 to be used over
\n three years.<\/p>\n
\n dogs and other mammals by tiny, infected phlebotomine female sandflies and affects
\n millions of people worldwide, from Brazil to India to countries in Central Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n and disfigurement, and the visceral variation is over 90% fatal if left untreated.<\/p>\n![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Keyel-Peter-and-Zhang-Kai.jpg\")
Peter Keyel and Kai Zhang <\/p>\n
\n research into the cell biology of membrane repair with Zhang\u2019s parasitology knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n process to avoid a cell leaking its contents and dying. Keyel has focused on pore-forming
\n toxins (PFTs), capable of attacking immune cells, destroying cell barriers and promoting
\n the spread of bacteria, since his postdoctoral days.<\/p>\n
\n in Leishmania cells. They found the toxins they used didn\u2019t work without the removal
\n of the parasites\u2019 key lipid component that contributes to the membrane structure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n mechanisms of damage?\u2019\u201d Keyel explained. \u201cThat\u2019s moved into, \u2018Do they repair membranes
\n the same way?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n seal a hole, donating internal membranes to patch the external one, and sequestering
\n and shedding toxins from the cell.<\/p>\n
\n cells and the Leishmania\u2019s unicellular eukaryotic structure and aspects that can be
\n found in all Leishmania, as well as differences that will inspire new questions about
\n the where and why.<\/p>\n
\n of selectively targeting changes in repair, followed by the clinical process of using
\n an inhibitor or other solution and determining its efficacy and safety.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBut even if we don\u2019t get something right this round, if we learn more about these
\n processes, they give us that next round of questions, and then we build up the mechanisms
\n more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n leading training of undergraduates in biomedical techniques, with the cohort to participate
\n in subprojects over the course of the research.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n explain their work.<\/p>\n
\n and then, \u2018Here’s the why and how we’re building it within that framework,\u2019\u201d Keyel
\n said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Department of Biological Sciences faculty Peter Keyel and Kai Zhang have received a roughly $600,000 grant to investigate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-380060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}