Advancing host-directed therapy for tuberculosis: new therapeutic insights from the Toxoplasma gondii
March 2, 2017
This article comments on work published by Koh et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2017), which uncovered that infection-induced signaling pathways suggest possibilities for the development of novel therapeutic modalities for TB that target the intracellular signaling pathways permitting the replication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB).
Optogenetic monitoring identifies phosphatidylthreonine-regulated calcium homeostasis in Toxoplasma gondii
May 1, 2016
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite, which inflicts acute as well as chronic infections in a wide range of warm-blooded vertebrates. Using an optogenetic sensor to monitor subcellular calcium in this model intracellular pathogen we found a novel regulatory function of phosphatidylthreonine in calcium signaling.
Toxoplasma gondii inhibits cytochrome c-induced caspase activation in its host cell by interference with holo-apoptosome assembly
May 4, 2015
Inhibition of programmed cell death pathways of mammalian cells often facilitates the sustained survival of intracellular microorganisms. The apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a master regulator of host cell apoptotic pathways. Here, we have characterized a novel anti-apoptotic activity of T. gondii. Using a cell-free cytosolic extract model, we show that T. gondii interferes with the activities of caspase 9 and caspase 3/7 which have been induced by exogenous cytochrome c and dATP. Proteolytic cleavage of caspases 9 and 3 is also diminished suggesting inhibition of holo-apoptosome function. Parasite infection of Jurkat T cells and subsequent triggering of apoptosome formation by exogenous cytochrome c in vitro and in vivo indicated that...
Phosphatidylthreonine: An exclusive phospholipid regulating calcium homeostasis and virulence in a parasitic protist
May 1, 2016
This article comments on work published by Kuchipudi et al. (Microbial Cell, 2016), which describes the role of phohsphatidylthreonine in the regulation of calcium homeostasis and virulence in the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii.