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The aim of this collection of articles is to assemble advances in stem cell-based approaches and their application to the study of parasitic diseases. Tropical parasites, including unicellular protozoan organisms and helminths, represent a major public health burden, particularly in tropical regions of the world. The study of these organisms is significantly hampered by the lack of effective in vitro/ ex vivo culture systems that mimic natural conditions and facilitate a thorough understanding of parasite development and host-parasite interactions. The advent of stem cell technology offers the opportunity to derive the right cell types to culture these parasites. Moreover, stem cell-derived organoids accurately reproduce the particular niche in which the parasites grow, develop, interact with host tissues and reproduce. In addition, particularly for helminths (i.e., multicellular parasites), the identification and characterisation of the parasite’s stem cell system, will be critical to complement our current and future understanding of fundamental biological processes, such as worm maturation, and interaction with the host immune system and microbiota.
Leishmaniases are a group of tropical diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. They are considered neglected diseases prevalent in emerging countries in Latin America, West Africa, and Southeast Asia and still occurring in Mediterranean countries. There is no human vaccine available to prevent and control the disease infection. For the last 70 years, the available chemotherapy has been constituted by first-line (pentavalent antimonials) and second-line drugs (amphotericin B, pentamidine, paramomycin, and miltefosine). Its route of administration is difficult, the treatment is long, and its efficiency varies depending on the parasite species and clinical manifestations, which results in the emergence of resistant cases. Moreover, they present high toxicity to patients, and even some less toxic formulations available, are still expensive for the poorest countries’ vulnerable populations. This often leads to abandonment and failure of treatment. The medical-scientific community is facing difficulties to overcome these issues with new suitable therapies, and the identification of new drug targets. So, it means that efforts to identify new strategies must continue.