How do apicomplexan parasites steal amino acids from their hosts?

导致疟疾和弓形虫病的单细胞寄生虫擅长从它们感染的宿主动物那里窃取营养。然而，人们对他们如何做到这一点知之甚少。这个项目试图确定这些寄生虫从宿主那里清除氨基酸的过程，氨基酸是一种重要的营养物质。利用创新的实验方法，该项目旨在识别和表征介导不同氨基酸吸收到寄生虫中的寄生虫蛋白质。该项目的预期成果是对寄生虫生物学的一个基本方面提供全面的见解，并为通过切断这些寄生虫的营养供应来治疗由这些寄生虫引起的疾病的战略提供信息。

The single-celled parasites that cause malaria and toxoplasmosis are adept at stealing nutrients from the host animals that they infect. How they do this is, however, poorly understood. This project seeks to identify the processes by which these parasites scavenge amino acids, an essential class of nutrient, from their hosts. Using innovative experimental approaches, the project aims to identify and characterise the parasite proteins that mediate the uptake of different amino acids into the parasite. The intended outcomes of the project are to provide comprehensive insights into a fundamental aspect of parasite biology, and inform strategies to treat the diseases caused by these parasites by cutting off their nutrient supply.