The physics of adhesion of Giardia duodenalis and it’s structural basis: Understanding the key process for colonization of the small intestine by a globally prevalent human protozoan parasite and etiologic agent of Giardiasis

附着和黏附是贾第虫寄生在小肠上皮细胞并引起贾第虫病的关键过程和特性，贾第虫病是世界上最流行的腹泻疾病之一。这个将传染病专家的专业知识与物理学家相结合的项目的目标是了解这一过程的物理学和所应用的力，并将这些分配给各自的分子结构，这些分子结构负责它们的生成。原子力显微镜的尖端应用将被用来确定力量，布里渊显微镜和变形细胞荧光法来描述寄生虫的机械性能，这些将与人类有机类化合物衍生的原代小肠上皮和定制的合成表面相结合，以研究一组代表人类致病种群的全球独特寄生虫的附着和黏附。最终目标是与在优先方案框架内合作的小组协调，将新知识综合成贾第虫依附的综合物理模型。

Attachment and adhesion are the key process and property of Giardia parasites to colonize the small intestinal epithelium and cause Giardiasis, one of the worldwide most prevalent diarrheal diseases. The goal of this project that combines the expertise of infectious disease specialists with physicists is to understand the physics of this process and of the forces that apply, and to assign these to respective molecular structures responsible for their generation. Cutting edge applications of atomic force microscopy will be used to determine forces, of Brillouin microscopy and deformation cytofluorimetry to describe the parasites’ mechanical properties, and these will be combined with human organoid derived primary small intestinal epithelia and custom-built synthetic surfaces to study attachment and adhesion of a worldwide unique set of parasites representative of the human-pathogenic population. The ultimate goal is to synthetize the new knowledge into a comprehensive physical model of Giardia-attachment in concert with groups collaborating within the framework of the priority program.