Toxoplasma gondii attachment and invasion: architecture, assembly and recognition of microneme protein complexes

寄生虫在不同的生物体中定植和生长，虽然对宿主没有好处，但往往会引起疾病。弓形虫（Toxoplasma gondii，T.弓形虫）既是单细胞生物又是类动物生物。它是先天性出生缺陷的主要原因，也经常与免疫功能低下的患者（如艾滋病）和重要的兽医病原体有关。作为人类和动物最常见的寄生虫感染之一，T。弓形虫对社会经济有很大的影响。目前的治疗方法有毒副作用，疗效低，疫苗尚未开发，因此T。弓形虫是一个被严重低估的公共卫生问题。我们建议研究T.从原子角度看，弓形虫能够在宿主体内定殖和侵入，这将为药物和疫苗的合理设计提供指导。

A parasite colonises and grows in a different organism and while it is not a benefit to the host, it can often cause disease. The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is both a single-celled and animal-like organism. It is a major cause of congenital birth defects, as well as being often associated with immuno-compromised patients (e.g. AIDS) and an important veterinary pathogen. As one of the most common parasitic infections of man and animals, infecting more than 500 million people worldwide, T. gondii has a large socio-economic impact. Current treatments have toxic side effects with low efficacy and a vaccine has yet to be developed, therefore T. gondii represents a highly underestimated public health problem. We propose to study the mechanisms by which T. gondii are able colonise and invade hosts from the atomic standpoint, which will provide guidance for the rational design of drugs and vaccines.