Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases
University of Georgia
Ca2+ signaling in cells begins with the opening of Ca2+ channels in either the plasma membrane (PM) or endoplasmic reticulum (ER), leading to a sharp increase in the physiologically low (<100 nM) cytosolic Ca2+ level. The temporal and spatial regulation of Ca²+ is crucial for the precise activation of key biological processes. In the …
We investigated the antiparasitic activity of several antimicrobial drug leads against Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites and, in one case, bradyzoites. Carbazole and phenylthiazole aminoguanidine anti-infectives, originally developed as antibacterial and antifungal agents, showed potent activity, with IC50 values as low as 2 μM. This potency was comparable to that observed with the tuberculosis drug candidate SQ109 and a series …
The cytosolic Ca2+ concentration of all cells is highly regulated demanding the coordinated operation of Ca2+ pumps, channels, exchangers and binding proteins. In the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii calcium homeostasis, essential for signaling, governs critical virulence traits. However, the identity of most molecular players involved in signaling and homeostasis in T. gondii are unknown or …
The current treatments for toxoplasmosis are only active against fast-growing tachyzoites, present in acute infections, with little effect on slow-growing bradyzoites within tissue cysts, present in latent chronic infections. The mitochondrion of Toxoplasma gondii is essential for its survival, and one of the major anti-parasitic drugs, atovaquone, inhibits the mitochondrial electron transport chain at the coenzyme Q:cytochrome …
by Donna Huber Baihetiya “Barna” Baierna, a cellular biology graduate student in Silvia Moreno’s laboratory, received an American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship. It will fund her training for the next two years as she studies the mitochondrion of Toxoplasma gondii. Baierna grew up wanting to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a scientist. “My …
Ca2+ signaling impacts almost every aspect of cellular life. Ca2+ signals are generated through the opening of ion channels that permit the flow of Ca2+ down an electrochemical gradient. Cytosolic Ca2+ fluctuations can be generated through Ca2+ entry from the extracellular milieu or release from intracellular stores. In Toxoplasma gondii, Ca2+ ions play critical …
Apicomplexan parasites are a group of protists that cause disease in humans and include pathogens like Plasmodium spp., the causative agent of malaria, and Toxoplasma gondii, the etiological agent of toxoplasmosis and one of the most ubiquitous human parasites in the world. Membrane contact sites (MCSs) are widespread structures within eukaryotic cells but their …
