Modelling trypanosome motility in blood flow

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Dmitry Fedosov, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics ; Biophysics
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 492006804

Trypanosome parasites cause trypanosomiasis, a group of diseases which affect a few million people worldwide. These parasites are able to survive in very different environments, including blood, different tissues, and the gut of tsetse fly. Furthermore, trypanosomes adapt their properties (e.g. propulsion, adhesion) to a specific environment in order to travel toward specific targets or niches. For example, it is hypothesized that in blood, the parasites use surrounding blood cells to enhance their motility. Nevertheless, the questions of how trypanosomes navigate through a very crowded blood-flow environment, and eventually leave the circulation, remain largely unanswered due to substantial experimental difficulties. Here, numerical modeling of trypanosome behavior in blood has a strong potential to complement existing experimental investigations and lead to a better understanding of trypanosome locomotion under various blood-flow conditions. The main objective of our project is to achieve a better understanding of the swimming behavior of trypanosome parasite in blood flow using numerical modeling. We will establish an adaptable and reliable trypanosome model for the investigation of different trypanosome species and various swimming modes in blood flow. Furthermore, trypanosome swimming in a suspension of soft particles (blood cells, as well as controlled model systems of synthetic microparticles) will be characterized and the physical mechanisms that govern parasite motility will be identified. Then, the navigation of trypanosomes in blood flow and their migration toward vessel walls will be studied. Finally, the adhesion of trypanosomes to blood cells and vessel walls will be considered, in order to propose possible mechanisms for escaping the blood circulation. As a result, our project will deliver biophysical mechanisms of trypanosome navigation through one of the essential habitats, the trypanosome ability to negotiate crowded conditions and large flow stresses, and to leave the blood circulation whenever necessary. This project will contribute to different aspects of the DFG-SPP 2332 programme, including mechanical properties of parasites, parasitic locomotion and the interaction with their microenvironment, and parasite attachment to host structures.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 2332: Physics of Parasitism
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Gerhard Gompper