Article
Microbiology
Hilary Montano, Ramu Anandkrishnan, Vern B. B. Carruthers, Rajshekhar Y. Y. Gaji
Summary: Protein kinases of the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, especially TgTKL4, play important roles in regulating parasite motility, invasion, replication, egress, and survival within the host. Disruption of TgTKL4 results in replication and invasion defects, leading to altered parasite morphology and reduced virulence. The study provides insights into TgTKL4 as a fitness-determining factor for Toxoplasma propagation and pathogenesis.
Article
Microbiology
William J. Moss, Caitlyn E. Patterson, Alexander K. Jochmans, Kevin M. Brown
Summary: The study identifies TgPDE1 and TgPDE2 as central regulators of cyclic nucleotide levels in Toxoplasma, playing important roles in parasite motility and growth. Understanding the functions and regulatory mechanisms of these enzymes could lead to the development of new therapies for apicomplexan infections.
Article
Microbiology
My-Hang Huynh, Marijo S. Roiko, Angelica O. Gomes, Ellyn N. Schinke, Aric J. Schultz, Swati Agrawal, Christine A. Oellig, Travis R. Sexton, Jessica M. Beauchamp, Julie Laliberte, Komagal Kannan Sivaraman, Louis B. Hersh, Sheena McGowan, Vern B. Carruthers
Summary: In this study, a parasite secretory protease necessary for efficient and timely egress of Toxoplasma gondii from host cells was identified, laying the foundation for future mechanistic studies on the role of this protease in facilitating parasite exit.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Li-Juan Zhou, Jiao Peng, Min Chen, Li-Jie Yao, Wei-Hao Zou, Cynthia Y. He, Hong-Juan Peng
Summary: TgSAG1 is a crucial surface protein of tachyzoites that plays a role in parasite invasion and host immune regulation by interacting with S100A6. This interaction affects the invasion process and host cell response, ultimately leading to the secretion of TNF-alpha through specific signaling pathways.
Article
Immunology
Marc-Jan Gubbels, David J. P. Ferguson, Sudeshna Saha, Julia D. Romano, Suyog Chavan, Vincent A. Primo, Cynthia Michaud, Isabelle Coppens, Klemens Engelberg
Summary: Apicomplexa is famous for its apical complex at the top, while the basal complex at the other end has been overshadowed. However, in the past decade, a variety of functions have been associated with the basal complex, and progress has been made in understanding its structure.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gustavo D. Campagnaro, Hamza A. A. Elati, Sofia Balaska, Maria Esther Martin Abril, Manal J. Natto, Fabian Hulpia, Kelly Lee, Lilach Sheiner, Serge Van Calenbergh, Harry P. de Koning
Summary: Tg244440 is a high affinity oxopurine transporter identified in T. gondii, which transports hypoxanthine and guanine with similar affinity, while having low affinity for inosine and guanosine. The binding interactions between the transporter and its substrates were studied using purine analogues, revealing different modes of binding for oxopurine bases, oxopurine nucleosides, and adenosine. The ribose moiety of adenosine was found to have minimal contribution to binding.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Nicolas Dos Santos Pacheco, Nicolo Tosetti, Aarti Krishnan, Romuald Haase, Bohumil Maco, Catherine Suarez, Bingjian Ren, Dominique Soldati-Favre
Summary: Depletion of ERK7 in Toxoplasma gondii disrupts the integrity of the apical complex, leading to the loss of the apical polar ring and impairment in microneme secretion. Comparative proteomics analysis reveals the disappearance of known apical complex proteins and the accumulation of microneme proteins.
Article
Microbiology
Lauren M. Hawkins, Anatoli V. Naumov, Mrinalini Batra, Changqi Wang, Dale Chaput, Elena S. Suvorova
Summary: This study investigates the process of endodyogeny in Toxoplasma gondii and discovers a novel parasite-specific complex, TgCrk6/TgCyc1, that regulates the spindle assembly checkpoint. The study demonstrates the involvement of parasite-specific tasks in the canonical checkpoint functions and provides insights into the unique replication mechanisms of Apicomplexa parasites.
Article
Microbiology
Shu Ye, Matteo Lunghi, Dominique Soldati-Favre
Summary: This study identifies a novel component, SLF, of a guanylate cyclase complex in Toxoplasma gondii that is essential for both acute infection and natural oral infection through the dissemination and persistence of tissue cysts.
Review
Parasitology
Rajshekhar Y. Gaji, Amanda K. Sharp, Anne M. Brown
Summary: Toxoplasma gondii is a life-threatening intracellular pathogen that depends on protein kinases for its life cycle. Research on Toxoplasma kinases aims to understand their functions and potentially develop therapeutics against this parasite.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Microbiology
Jinjin Zhu, Yang Wang, Yuanyuan Cao, Jilong Shen, Li Yu
Summary: Research on Toxoplasma gondii microneme proteins (MICs) has shown their important role in host cell attachment, invasion, motility, and pathogenesis. Specifically focusing on the TgMIC1/4/6 complex can help improve understanding of T. gondii infection and provide a basis for effective control strategies.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sheena Dass, Serena Shunmugam, Laurence Berry, Christophe-Sebastien Arnold, Nicholas J. Katris, Samuel Duley, Fabien Pierrel, Marie-France Cesbron-Delauw, Yoshiki Yamaryo-Botte, Cyrille Y. Botte
Summary: TgLIPIN in Toxoplasma gondii is a crucial phosphatidic acid phosphatase responsible for controlled lipid synthesis to sustain parasite development, regulating the balance between lipid synthesis and membrane biogenesis. The study reveals the first host-scavenged lipidome and demonstrates that TgLIPIN prevents parasite death by effectively channeling host-scavenged fatty acids for storage and membrane lipid synthesis.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Lauren M. Hawkins, Anatoli Naumov, Mrinalini Batra, Changqi Wang, Dale Chaput, Elena S. Suvorova
Summary: In this study, a novel parasite-specific complex, TgCrk6/TgCyc1, was discovered to play a role in regulating the spindle assembly checkpoint. The evolution of replication mechanisms in Toxoplasma differs significantly from conventional cell cycles, with the incorporation of parasite-specific tasks providing essential tools to control the acute stage of infection.
Article
Immunology
Jacob Dockterman, Brian E. Fee, Gregory A. Taylor, Jorn Coers
Summary: In host defense against Toxoplasma, Irgm2 plays a distinct but critically important role compared to Irgm1 and Irgm3. Cells lacking Irgm2 are as defective for cell-autonomous host defense to Toxoplasma as pan-Irgm(-/-) cells lacking all three Irgm proteins.
INFECTION AND IMMUNITY
(2021)
Editorial Material
Microbiology
Clare R. Harding
Summary: Clare Harding's research on the metal biology of Toxoplasma gondii has been influenced by two studies from Maria Mota's lab, which focus on the interplay between parasites and their hosts' nutritional status.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Anita Saraf, Serena Cervantes, Evelien M. Bunnik, Nadia Ponts, Mihaela E. Sardiu, Duk-Won D. Chung, Jacques Prudhomme, Joseph M. Varberg, Zhihui Wen, Michael P. Washburn, Laurence Florens, Karine G. Le Roch
JOURNAL OF PROTEOME RESEARCH
(2016)
Article
Microbiology
Victoria Jeffers, Edwin T. Kamau, Ananth R. Srinivasan, Jonathan Harper, Preethi Sankaran, Sarah E. Post, Joseph M. Varberg, William J. Sullivan, Jon P. Boyle
Article
Parasitology
Marijo S. Roiko, Kaice LaFavers, Diane Leland, Gustavo Arrizabalaga
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY
(2018)
Editorial Material
Cell Biology
Joseph M. Varberg, Sue L. Jaspersen
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bethan A. Wallbank, Caia S. Dominicus, Malgorzata Broncel, Nathalie Legrave, Gavin Kelly, James I. MacRae, Henry M. Staines, Moritz Treeck
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Irene Heredero-Bermejo, Joseph M. Varberg, Robert Charvat, Kylie Jacobs, Tamila Garbuz, William J. Sullivan, Gustavo Arrizabalaga
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chunlin Yang, Malgorzata Broncel, Caia Dominicus, Emily Sampson, William J. Blakely, Moritz Treeck, Gustavo Arrizabalaga
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2019)
Article
Microbiology
Kylie Jacobs, Robert Charvat, Gustavo Arrizabalaga
Article
Microbiology
William J. Blakely, Michael J. Holmes, Gustavo Arrizabalaga
Article
Cell Biology
I-Ju Lee, Ema Stokasimov, Nathaniel Dempsey, Joe Varberg, Etai Jacob, Sue L. Jaspersen, David Pellman
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Joseph M. Varberg, Jennifer M. Gardner, Scott McCroskey, Snehabala Saravanan, William D. Bradford, Sue L. Jaspersen
G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS
(2020)
Article
Microbiology
Joseph M. Varberg, Kaice A. LaFavers, Gustavo Arrizabalaga, William J. Sullivan
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AND CHEMOTHERAPY
(2018)