{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T13:23:37Z","timestamp":1788269017646,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004794","name":"Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["PREMAT317"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PREMAT317"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004794","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001665","name":"Agence Nationale de la Recherche","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["ANR-16-IDEX-0006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANR-16-IDEX-0006"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002915","name":"Fondation pour la Recherche M\u00e9dicale","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002915","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001665","name":"Agence Nationale de la Recherche","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["ANR-17-CE13-0012-02"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANR-17-CE13-0012-02"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001665","name":"Agence Nationale de la Recherche","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["ANR-19-CE14-0029-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANR-19-CE14-0029-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001665","name":"Agence Nationale de la Recherche","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["ANR-20-CE14-0032-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANR-20-CE14-0032-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Microbiol Spectr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Babesia divergens<\/jats:italic>\n                      are tick-borne apicomplexan parasites infecting red blood cells of domestic and wild animals in Europe, as well as humans with important health burden. Previous findings indicate that PIEZO1 gain-of-function inherited mutations confer a significant protection against cerebral malaria. In this study, we further demonstrate that several Yoda1 analogs promoting PIEZO1 opening prevent\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">B. divergens<\/jats:italic>\n                      infection of human red blood cells\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      . We identify several compounds with improved specificity for\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">B. divergens,<\/jats:italic>\n                      as compared to\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Plasmodium falciparum<\/jats:italic>\n                      .\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Babesia<\/jats:italic>\n                      are apicomplexan parasites transmitted by tick bites that mainly infect animals, but some species such as\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Babesia divergens<\/jats:italic>\n                      also infect people with dramatic outcomes. Babesiosis represents a threat for bovine production and is also an emerging human infectious disease in endemic regions. Like the malaria parasite\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Babesia<\/jats:italic>\n                      infects red blood cells (RBC) and causes hemolysis. Protection is currently based on drug treatments, tick control strategies, and animal vaccination. However, the indiscriminate use of prophylactic agents directly targeting the parasite is at risk to cause drug resistance, as observed for malaria. Here, we show that PIEZO1 activation in human RBC, taking advantage of newly synthesized Yoda1 analogs with enhanced efficacy and lower cytotoxicity, confers\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      protection against\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Babesia<\/jats:italic>\n                      infection.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.04114-25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T13:00:49Z","timestamp":1785330049000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Protection against\n                    <i>Babesia<\/i>\n                    infection by red blood cell PIEZO1 activation"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4547-4205","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kai","family":"Wengelnik","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"LPHI, University of Montpellier, CNRS, Inserm","place":["Montpellier, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5041-3776","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rakhee","family":"Lohia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LPHI, University of Montpellier, CNRS, Inserm","place":["Montpellier, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anais","family":"Paveyranne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University C\u00f4te d'Azur, ICN, CNRS","place":["Nice, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jordy","family":"Le Guet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LPHI, University of Montpellier, CNRS, Inserm","place":["Montpellier, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6303-2286","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gregor","family":"P. Jose","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/050f22e89","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, IPMC, CNRS, Inserm U1323, UMR7275, Labex ICST","place":["Valbonne, France."]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1125-9291","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"St\u00e9phane","family":"Azoulay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University C\u00f4te d'Azur, ICN, CNRS","place":["Nice, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8007-0919","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eric","family":"Honor\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/050f22e89","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, IPMC, CNRS, Inserm U1323, UMR7275, Labex ICST","place":["Valbonne, France."]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6209-6464","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dominique","family":"Douguet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/050f22e89","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, IPMC, CNRS, Inserm U1323, UMR7275, Labex ICST","place":["Valbonne, France."]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"235","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/525852"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpara.2018.11.007"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(24)00141-5"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1193270"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.07370"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Leffler EM Band G Jeffreys AE Rowlands K Hubbart C Bojang KA Conway DJ Jallow M Sisay-Joof F D\u2019Alessandro U Ndila CM Macharia AW Marsh K Williams TN Kachala D Molyneux M Nyirongo V Taylor TE Rockett KA Kwiatkowski DP. 2024. 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