# Sexual Development of Cryptosporidium

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2021 · $375,000

## Abstract

The protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium is one of the most important causes of severe diarrheal
disease, and the disease manifests itself with varied epidemiology around the world. In the U.S.
outbreaks are linked to tainted recreational and drinking water and have occurred at massive
scale. Patients suffering from immunosuppression due to HIV/AIDS, organ transplantation, or
cancer are in gravest danger. The global public health impact is even larger: after Rotavirus,
Cryptosporidium is the most important diarrheal pathogen in small children. In infants, in
particular in the context of malnutrition, cryptosporidiosis has a highly significant imprint on
overall early childhood mortality and morbidity. Cryptosporidiosis is also linked to stunting, thus
leaving a lasting shadow on the future of children. There are no vaccines and only a single drug
of marginal efficacy. This parasite has a single host life cycle, both asexual and sexual processes
occur sequentially in the intestinal epithelium of the same host. Completion of this developmental
program is required for continued infection, severe disease, and spread of the pathogen. Despite
the obvious importance of the lifecycle for drug and vaccine development, our current
understanding is rudimentary. This is a biological phenomenon of fascinating complexity – there
is much to discover here – and we expect insights of fundamental as well as translational
significance. We have recently pioneered a genetic system for Cryptosporidum that we will use in
this project to dissect the lifecycle at the molecular and cellular level. Under this proposal we will
develop rigorous molecular markers and assays for development through asexual and sexual
stages, reveal stage specific gene expression, and discover the mechanisms that execute function
and progression through the lifecycle. Lack of efficient systems to culture Cryptosporidium has
long hampered progress. We will define where specifically in vitro development derails, and
these insights will guide future work to facilitate a continuous culture model.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10054148
- **Project number:** 5R01AI127798-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** BORIS STRIEPEN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $375,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-06-01

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10054148

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10054148, Sexual Development of Cryptosporidium (5R01AI127798-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10054148. Licensed CC0.

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