Exosomes purified from culture supernatant of Leishmania donovani and Leishmania braziliensis amastigotes Transcriptome or Gene expression

Leishmania parasites release exosomes to communicate with host macrophages. These exosomes contain protein virulence factors and modulate the phenotype of host cells to favor parasite survival. We here investigate the RNA content of leishmania exosomes. The study compares Old and New World Leishmania species (L. donovani and L. braziliensis). We have chosen to purify exosomes from culture supernantant of axenic amastigotes, as these are the most infective life cycle stage of leishmania. The goals of the study are to examine in detail the sequences present in leishmania exosomes and compare the exosomal transcriptomes of the two distinct species. The results should shed light on the exosomal RNA content, and follow-up experiments will determine whether these sequences play a role in parasite-host interplay.