MT VET COBRE PROJECT 1: HOST-PATHOGEN COMMUNICATION IN TOXOPLASMA

这个子项目是众多研究子项目之一

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Toxoplasma gondii infects 1.5 million human subjects annually and is dangerous to the unborn, to patients undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplant, and to people with AIDS. Bradyzoite development in the intermediate host leads to permanent infection and underlies the pathogenesis of clinical disease in these clinical contexts. Dr. Radke's lab has determined that selected tri-substituted pyrroles will alter gene expression in various model host cells to induce developmentally competent tachyzoite strains to differentiate and form bradyzoite tissues cysts. They suspect new host cell gene expression modulates specific pathways that signal parasites to differentiate. The ability to experimentally alter the host cell to initiate bradyzoite development provides new experimental strategies to study pathogenesis. The identification of host cell proteins that define the molecular environment conducive to bradyzoite differentiation may provide targets for the treatment of this infection.