Abstract
Trichomonas vaginalis is a single-celled protozoan parasite that attacks the epithelial tissue of the human urogenital system and causes the sexually transmitted infection trichomoniasis. These enzymes that this parasite uses to survive have no mammalian equivalent and therefore have been identified as potential chemotherapeutic targets for antiparasitic drug and vaccine development. This thesis details over three years of research on a nucleoside hydrolase from T. vaginalis, from an amino acid sequence in a database, to an insert in a cloning vector and finally as a characterized nucleoside hydrolase. Completion of studies on the specificity, mechanism and prevalence of nucleoside hydrolase activity in T. vaginalis has the potential of producing information that can be used in drug design of a new class of antiparasitic agents to treat or prevent trichomoniasis.